I'm good at rollerblading, baking, and many other things, but lying does NOT fit in to the categories of things I'm "good at". One look at my face and even the silliest most unimportant lie can be detected. Dr. Lightman ( for those of you who are familiar with Lie To Me) wouldn't even need to try to figure out if I was lying. But then again, could he even if he had to? The T.V. show "Lie To Me" (if you ask me, it was a shame they stopped airing it!) features Cal Lightman who is a professional human lie detector, who figures out people pretty much 100 percent of the time. But as fun as it is to believe, is that really realistic? Unfortunately, science tells of differently. Human lie detectors have not much greater than chance statistics at detecting lies on others. 
Even if someone were to be abnormally skilled in detecting lies by examining facial expression, it is EXTREMELY unlikely that they could ever achieve what Cal Lightman achieved in his show, and almost 100% success rate at detecting lies. BUT what if we could tell everytime someone told us a lie? What would you do? Call the liars out? Sit and watch in amusement? I think it would be really tempting to throw out hints that you know they are lying. I don't mean to sound like a terrible person here, but if they have the nerve to lie to me, I think I would deserve at least a little bit of fun at their expense. But, on a more serious note, if someone actually could be trained to detect lies in others based on facial expressions and gestures, what do you think that would mean for our countries justice system? I personally think that there would be too much corruption, because a professional "Lie detector" with a personal vendetta against another person could falsify lies. Even though its mostly fictional, the thought of human lie detectors truly is a fun one to think about!
Reading In Between The Lies
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Reading In Between The Lies - Psychology 1001 S23, Sp2012 Read More
I am not familiar with the show mentioned; however, I think it would be very interesting if someone could tell when people are lying. I think it is important to know the truth in situations where people have been hurt or when the law is involved. However, I personally tell little white lies, which I wouldn't want people knowing. Whether the little lies be telling a friend a false grade I got on an exam or telling my dad a lesser amount of money I spent on a specific piece of clothing. I think that some lies are useful to know, however there are many other lies that are not useful. I would not want to be the "human lie detector" because I wouldn't want that guilt on me to inform the people who are being lied to.
I find this entire topic very interesting. I always like to think that I have an idea when people are lying or pushing the truth but this article shows the logical side of things. I think a great point that was brought up is the fact that if you do have a bias toward the situation this will definitely alter your decision. I have a friend that likes to push the truth a little too often which leads me to believe that he is constantly lying. I would agree that it would be very interesting to believe that people are able to detect lies by observing but previous experience has led me to believe just the opposite.
First I want to agree that this show should not have been canceled. Second, I want to say that if I were able to tell when someone was lying to me I would probably just throw them a bone and then walk away laughing. But in all seriousness, I agree that it would be corrupt in a way. This is why I feel it would be a good idea to have it be similar to the structure in lie to me that the sentence could not go off of whether or not the "human lie detector" called a person a liar or not.
I know this is unrealistic, but if there were people who were foolproof lie detectors, we would have to get more than one to work on each case. It is exactly the same as our government. If there were no system of checks and balances making sure others are doing the right thing, then our federal government would be extremely corrupt (it already is in some cases, but let's not get into that here). Multiple lie detectors would have to be on a case to make sure people don't have personal vendettas. Also, if there were foolproof lie detectors, I think there would be a lot less lying in courts. Just like my parents used to say, "If you tell us the truth you'll get in less trouble." That would be taken more to heart.
Another way that applies to real life would be my experience in retail. We were not allowed to accuse someone of shoplifting even if we were 100% sure they stole something because of the miniscule percentage that they didn't. We were taught the body language of a shoplifter and the actions they take throughout the store. We were only allowed to use our AMAZING customer service skills and constantly bug them if they needed help or point out things we like. Sometimes it was impossible to spot a shoplifter, other times they looked as guilty as a child.
Although maybe it can't be perfected it defiantly is an ability to read people. It's something I always wished I was better at. The ability to tell what people are thinking, and if their lying would require a very good understanding of psychology, and the fact is that psychology isn't an exact science, there's too many variables.
I have not seen this show, however a close friend of mine has recently gotten into it. Just last night, while I was talking to her, she was staring at my shoulders. I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was trying to see if I was lying. (I think she said if my shoulders move, it means I'm lying?). This made me laugh because it sounded a bit ridiculous.
Paul Ekman, a psychologist who wrote the book that Lie to Me was based on, explores this idea of micro-expressions. The problem with the micro-expressions is that even if one is a professional at watching for them, their success rate is still very low.
I do agree with you that it is fun to think about humans as lie detectors. If we could be success enough to be completely reliable, as you mentioned, it might get out of hand. (you might need someone watching the "lie detector professional" to make sure they were actually telling the truth)