If you’re like me, you probably watch a bit of College Humor after a tough day of work. Stressed out, the brain needs a bit of humorous relief to stave off self-immolation… for just one more day, at least.
Well, who says you can’t get slightly more informed while chilling out? A video called “How To Beat A Lie Detector Test” explains to us why lie detectors are useless bits of metal that could very well lead to false conclusions.
The secret to beating the lie detector is simple, just stay chill and don’t stress brah; the polygraph detects if a person is sweating abnormally- which could be caused by a variety of factors including nervousness (who isn’t nervous while the police are shouting at you?) or physical exertion.
The very inventor of the polygraph would go on to regret its invention, because American police would go on to use it without understanding its limitations.
And boy, those limitations are pretty big; the polygraph would be used to prove impossible things, such as that plants can feel pain or fear.
(To be fair, this sort of allegation isn’t quite as out there as you would think… until the researcher used the polygraph to prove that plants were telepathically aware of a brine shrimp dying in a nearby room).
The show goes on to point out that people’s widespread faith in the failed technology is gravely misplaced; game shows, law enforcement and most certainly the mainstream media have fallen for this lie-machine.
The mainstream media, that other lie-machine, has propagated this myth to such an extent that it is still used to establish probable cause in Massachusetts, and Florida require sex offenders to take the test.
The fact is though, that law enforcement is perfectly aware that the gizmo is useless; instead, it is used exactly for the one purpose it was good for: to lie to and trick criminals into confessing to crimes.
It also has a long history of tricking innocent people into confessing to crimes they did not commit. Police would even lie to suspects about positive lie-detector results, causing innocent and already extremely stressed out individuals to simply agree with whatever allegation was being levied at them.
Hopefully we can get a few more innocent people from spending lief behind bars for absolutely no reason, eh?
Sources: College Humor, Chicago Tribune
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Great video, very well done, thanks. Also, I had a detective hollering at me when it came to the questions he wanted me to look guilty on, I was innocent and had 2 witnesses during the commission of the crime, thanks God, but this dickwad had me looking really bad on paper. Saying you can stay calm under pressure like that can be impossible, so you need more tricks up your sleeve than just ‘stay chill’.