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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

How to spot a liar

Forget about their demeanor. Listen carefully to the words they're using.

Comments (7)

With a certain segment of our population it seems to be when their lips move.

Thank you for posting, Jack. The truth is in the details.

So when politicians lie, and honest people in the debate try to "explain" why the lie is a lie, we then give credence to the lie by providing the details!

Why not just call a lie a lie -- e.g., "death panels" -- and leave it at that. Otherwise, it's taking the liars' bait. Not just a waste of time and energy, but in the end the liars win hearts and minds, because emotions trump facts, every time. It's become a lasting legacy of the Reagan revolution.

I am fed up with the Democrats' appeasing of liars and bullies. The Democrats have the White House and both houses of Congress, yet are abdicating single payer universal healthcare, among a host of other cop-outs. All because of the fear of lies.

If the Republicans have become the party of lying bullies, and the Democrats have become the party of fearful weenies -- both parties beholden to monied interests -- then we can logically conclude that the two-party system is irrevocably corrupt. It's the system that has to change.

I found that article truly fascinating. And the big trick the researcher uses to get liars to trip up--asking them to repeat the story, but to go in reverse chronological order--is quite brilliant.

"Listen carefully" and you can identify LIARS by the words being used.

Exactly! Identifying 'celebrity' LIARS in specific false and baseless words is the simple key to the outstanding success of the website Media Matters .ORG

The backwards story technique is brilliant. Reminds me a little of when I got pulled over for speeding at night, and the officer asked me if I had been drinking. Being the truthful sort, I said yes, I had two beers over the previous two hours or so. He chatted with me for a couple of minutes, then asked me to count backwards, starting at 24 and stopping at 17, which I did, so he just wrote me a speeding ticket, which I deserved.

I read later that there are two parts to that drunk test: first, it's more difficult to pronounce numbers in the 20s, and thus you're more likely to slur your speech; second, once you get to the teens it's easy to forget and just keep going backwards. I've tried it on my friends when they ARE drunk, and more times than not they screw it up.

The Democrats have the White House and both houses of Congress, yet are abdicating single payer universal healthcare, among a host of other cop-outs. All because of the fear of lies.

I wish it were just cowardice. Unfortunately, money has a great deal to do with it.

"Listen to the words they are using"
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