The Liar’s Brain: Is it different?
Here is an older study, but a quite fascinating one that says skilled liars actually have more brain matter to help them lie.
What do you think? Do you think liars have a biological edge?
“Are you a perfect liar?”
Of all the questions that arise when I doing training, the one I least expected was, “Since you understand deception so well, are you the perfect liar?”
I remember the first time it was asked, I was blown away.
In real life, people trust me and tell me I have an honest face, so this was a bit alarming! Why would anyone think that of me, I thought. But when I thought about it more, I could see the point of the question.
It makes sense, doesn’t it?
But there is good news! The answer is no, I am not the perfect liar nor could I be, even knowing what I know about deception and human behavior.
And the reason is simple. Clues leak to deception for two reasons: First because we are under a higher cognitive load when we tell a lie–we have to balance the truth from a lie) which causes clues to leak naturally. And second, because we want to succeed with our lie, we naturally put pressure on ourselves to succeed and that pressure increases our cognitive load emotionally, which also causes clues to leak.
The more pressure on a person to get away with a lie, the higher likelihood they will leak clues. And in high stake scenarios, we naturally put pressure on ourselves with our desire to be successful and hence we slip up.
So while I know what the clues to deception are, if I try to make sure cognitively that I don’t display any of them, what am I doing to my cognitive load?
I’m sending it through the moon, aren’t I? So what are the chances I would leak clues? The chances are greatly elevated.
Just imagine my thought process trying to tell a lie…blah, blah, blah…don’t forget you can’t stare someone dead in the face, don’t move your shoulder or your lip…what was I saying, oh yeah…blah, blah, blah…did I just move my shoulder? Bahhh!!! What was I saying? Oh yeah, blah, blah…wait…don’t skip pronouns, confuse verb tense — uh…stutter, stutter…. at this point, my lie would blaring for all the world to see LOL!
So while I may understand deception on a detailed level, it doesn’t mean I would be the perfect liar.
And furthermore that is why I am comfortable openly teaching my material to people because if I teach my material to someone sinister, its very unlikely for even more reasons than I am discussing here that he or she will be able to become a better liar either. Actually, the converse is true. If they focus on all the clues I teach, it will only cause them to leak even more clues, which is candy for me!
Update: For those who are curious what makes a good liar, this article is for you.
A&E: The Killer Speaks
Have you seen this show on A&E?
If not, its truly worth watching. However, I will warn you it is very chilling.
But you get to have a front row seat into the mind of a killer.
Some lie. And some tell the truth.
It’s endlessly fascinating!
If my time allows in the coming weeks, I will share my thoughts on the latest episode.
What are the attributes of good liars?
One of my readers sent me a link to this great article on 18 Attributes of Highly Effective Liars.
I thought the list was very good! What do you think?
Statement Analysis of Manti Te’o
I could literally write a book on the hotspots of Manti Te’o. Here are a couple of my favorite ones. It’s Manti talking to Katie Couric yesterday. Katie Couric said, “Was this intoxicating for you, in a way, Manti?
Manti replied, “I think, for me, the only thing that I basked in was that I had an impact on people; that people turned to me for inspiration. And I think that was the only thing I focused on.”
He continued…
“My story, I felt, was… a guy who…. in times of hardship and in times of trial, um, really held strong to his faith, held strong to his family, and I felt that was my story.“
What is so interesting about this statement is that he talks about his life as a “story”. A story is usually a tale, or plot.
Notice how he doesn’t talk in first person about himself. He suddenly is a character: A guy, not “me” or “I”. Who talks like this about themselves? This is highly unusual by itself.
Isn’t it odd how he sums up everything that happened to him so easily after being through so much trauma? Most people can do that after what he’s been through, but he sure can see clearly, can’t he? It’s his plot: “a guy who in times of hardship and in times of trial, held strong to his faith…and family.”
Is that what his story is really about, or was that what he was “selling” us? If I didn’t know any better, I’d have no idea that he was a man who was scammed by one of the most embarrassing scams of a lifetime: a man impersonating a woman and he falls for it and in love, and he doesn’t even rank that? It’s laughable, if one is to believe this is true!
Can you hear the script?
It’s mind-blowing. Think it is a fluke?
Here is another one:
To ESPN, Te’o says about his dad:
“I kind of tailored my storiesto have people think that yeah, hemet her before she passed away so people wouldn’t think I was some crazy dude.”
“He” being “Te’o”. There he goes again talking about stories and characters!!! Clearly, Te’o knows how to use first person just fine when it comes to real experiences — when people might think “I was some crazy dude.”
I could go on and on and on…
