Lies are very common within society. It's been estimated that a person will say at least two lies a day. I believe it! It may not be a big lie but 'white lies' are fairly common; often used to protect the feelings of others. In a bid to make the world a more honest place, people have come up with ways to test the validity of another person's answers. The most common in the polygraph test. I don't really trust this method since it's easily fooled. Multiple sources (i.e. Mythbusters, various crime movies, and even our textbook) tell us how to fake a polygraph. Add some extra stimulation during the control question and you get a false positive which falsifies the test results.
Most people have a 50% chance of accurately spotting a lie. Truly exceptional people [such as federal agents] have a 70% chance. It's surprising how we believe that can usually tell fact from fiction when the opposite is actually true. Make me wonder how well I really know the people around. Don't people usually falsify facts about themselves to appear more appealing? I'm not just referring to intimate relationships but the casual relationships everyone has [student/teacher, friends, neighbors,etc.].
It's gotten to the point where I find lies humorous, because not very many people are good at covering their tracks. It's so obvious.