Friday 20 April 2012

How to spot a liar

Lie spotting has become a science that is already creating problems for people involved in performance arts, especially actors, but also for writers. It's our job to mislead our audiences, at least for part of the journey. The better they become at spotting the lies, the less effective our story-telling will be.

And, of course, there's the other thing, about not wanting to be conned ourselves.
On any given day we're lied to from ten to 200 times, and the clues to detecting those lies can be subtle and counter-intuitive. Pamela Meyer, author of Liespotting, shows the manners and "hotspots" used by people trained to recognize deception—and she argues honesty is a value worth preserving.
This is another long video, about 19 minutes, but worth watching. 

Honest.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was Awesome! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Clue #1: "They are in Hollywood."

Anonymous said...

Just about everything Pres. Obama says is prefaced by qualifier, "Let me be clear..." Hmm...

Kathy said...

This is another fascinating video, thank you, Henry. I am a little concerned that one part seemed a little naive. An interviewee who shows they are on your side, willing and helpful in getting you to the truth, who brainstorms, name suspects, provides details and theories, and recommends strict punishment, sounds like a confidence trickster to me.