Truth about lying

Yes, absolutely. Sadly enough, there have been times where I can tell someone is lying or hiding something because I have grown to know them so well. So when those times do come around, it certainly hurts to know that they are hiding something important. But, like yourself, when getting to know people or even with people I've known for a long time, I like the think the best of people. I like to prefer that most people in this world aren't going to try to rip you off or do something bad, but alas, we live in a cruel and unfair world. And I do the same thing as you do to assume that people of professions just do some things better than regular people.

I really like to see the good in people as well. I'd like to believe that most people don't lie, but it's actually a very common occurrence. For me, the only way I ever try to challenge what people say about themselves is when their lie is uncovered or if what they say is exaggerated beyond the statistical norm.

I am definitely one to see the good in people and have definitely fallen prey to lies from people but there are those few that you just know. The slightest facial expression or the slightest slip up are definitely the tell. I'm a huge fan of crime shows and was a true believer that professionals like those of the FBI or CIA would be able to call out any and every lie out there. It's a little discomforting to know that I have just about as good of a chance to do so as they do, my tendencies to look for the good in everyone however, make that an unsettling fact. I believe that liars should be called out and dealt with, but if it's only a 50/50 chance of doing so, it's a rough way to start off anyones day knowing that just about anyone can be lying and you wouldn't know it!

It would be extremely interesting to actually be able to know how many times we all get lied to on a daily basis. When we go around and interact with people, there are probably many times that lies are exchanged. Most of them are probably just "stretches of the truth" or white lies of little importance, but still! It would be interesting to see statistics on how much people lie, and even more interesting to be able to tell when you are being lied to. Too bad those cops on CSI aren't real...

I too used to think that detecting if someone was lying was a "science." I say science because I use to believe that there were tiny micro-expressions when someone lied because so many movies and TV shows portrayed this. Before reading this book I learned that that really isn't all that true but after reading that section I learned even more. One thing I would like to study is what parts of our brains become more active when we do lie and by how much. I think the whole concept is pretty interesting.

There are definitly people I can trust more than others based on the history I share with them. At first everyone I meet starts out on the same playing field; everyone is trusted. Unfortunatly, however, some people are just unreliable when it comes to telling the truth and/or exaggerating events. This becomes apparent as one interacts with them more frequently. For example, I know someone who will tell a story to someone about something that happened in which we were both there but he will make it seem a lot more interesting by enhancing the things that happened or even adding things to the story that weren't even there. These tendencies are an easy indicator as to whether or not someone can be trusted.