Interrobang's Journal: Hacking Honesty

One of the advantages to being smart and geeky is being able to manipulate one's immediate reality in many cases better than the average person...once we get the hang of it. Of course, we tend to start out at a disadvantage, not innately being able to read body language and facial expression, for two, but you'd be amazed at how sophisticated one's grasp on so-called "innate" behaviour becomes if one has to learn it instead of just acculturating into it.

What good is that, you might ask. Well, for one thing, it allows one, when necessary, to escape a potentially-incriminating situation with one's hide intact, by mastering the art of strategically lying. Those who've studied body language, and have gotten the hang of juggling multithreaded narratives (important if one's keeping one's story straight or juggling 20 different internet identities!) will have an easier time of it.

Articles like this one serve two purposes: Firstly, it presents a (facile) primer on how to spot someone who's lying to you (a useful skill to have), and secondly, it helps one learn how to lie convincingly. (Train yourself not to use any of those behaviours -- a little subjective reality-hacking helps here, as if one truly believes one's own story at some level or other, one doesn't lie, per se.)

Of course, more advanced students of this esoteric discipline will want to get into learning how to control semi-autonomic functions like perspiration, heart rate, breathing rate, and body temperature, but unless one has a serious problem keeping one's cool, one should only need such techniques to defeat polygraphs and other semi-medical "lie detection" techniques.

If you're uncomfortable with this as subject matter, think of it as "diplomacy" instead of "duplicity," ready to handle any uncomfortable social situation, from "Honey, does my butt look big in this skirt?" to when your odious ex drags his fiancee (the one with the reputation a mile long and an inch wide, and a face like an old shoe) over to introduce her to you.

Enjoy!

Small problem

[Ethelred Unraed]

Hands over mouth
Hand to nose
Hand to ear
Hands or fingers moving, wringing, tapping
Head tilt to side
Head turned away
Body moving backwards
Blink rate increases
Pupils contract
Eyes go down to left or right
Eyelids stay closed during the answer
Voice tone rises
Clearing the throat

Er, I do that all the time, even when I'm not lying. It's a horrible habit, but for example I almost never look at people in the eye when I'm talking (oddly, I do when I'm listening).

This comes from being a geek, I guess. ObJoke: How ca

Re:Small problem

[memfree]

It's not just you -- these are the exact things I do when I suspect the *other* person is being dishonest. I also suspect that all of the behaviors have more to do with assessing a situation than with *lying*. They seem like things anyone would do when given long consideration, or when more primitive instincts are warning them that a situation has the potential to escalate to fight/flight level.

Eyes go down to left or right
I believe any involved thinking triggers this one. Try remembering some mid-ter

However...

[Interrobang]

Just about everyone does have a "tell" when they're lying, which can include some of those signs and symptoms. (Condoleeza Rice blinks and stutters!) Some of those are just adrenaline/fluster reactions, but people do tend to get flustered when they try to lie -- not everybody, not uniformly, but most people.

Normaloids are less likely to manifest those signs during regular conversation than geeks are, too.

I doubt the pop-psychologist on that page (whose stuff I don't give total credence to, because it'

Nervouseness

[turgid]

When I'm nervous, I do all sorts of crazy stuff, but I get nervous when I'm telling the truth especially if I've got to explain lots of stuff or if someone's being agressive.

I went on an assertiveness course once. It was a great help. Amongst other things, it got me two pay rises, an upgrade, a new job and a girlfriend who became my wife.