We hear everywhere from 10 to 200 lies a day.
In human history, equipments like blood pressure and breathing monitors, voice-stress analyzers, eye trackers, infrared brain scanners, and even the 400-pound electroencephalogram were invented to detect liars.
However, these tools are considered not reliable and they can be fooled with enough preparation.
Photo Source: Everyday Health
On a psychological level, we lie partially to portray a better image of ourselves, relating our daydreams to the person we wish we were instead of the person we are.
Our conscious mind only regulates about 5% of our cognitive function but the other 95% happens beyond our awareness.
Linguistic text analysis has helped to recognize a few general guides to trace deception.
1. Liars reference themselves less when making deceptive statements.
They write or talk more about others, often using the third person to distance and disassociate themselves from their lie, which sounds more false.
Photo Source: Roger Ebert
2. Liars tend to be more negative.
On a subconscious level, they feel guilty about lying.
For example, a liar might say something like, "I hate my stupid phone battery died."
3. Liars typically explain events in simple terms.
Since our brains struggle to build a complex lie.
Judgment and evaluation are complex things for our brains to compute.
4. Liars tend to use longer and more convoluted sentence structure.
They may insert unnecessary words and unnecessary but true sounding details in order to pad the lie.
YouTube Source: YouTube Channel of Ted-Ed
Remember that many of the lies we encounter on a daily basis are far less serious and may even be harmless.
But it's still worthwhile to be aware of telltale clues, like minimal self-references, negative language, simple explanations, and convoluted phrasing.
It just might help you avoid an overvalued stock, an ineffective product, or even a terrible relationship.
Source: YouTube Channel of Ted-Ed
Cover Photo: Quick and Dirty Tips | Positive Parenting Solutions
