Public Speakers (Politicians) Please Tell Us the Truth. Your Body Signals Let Us Know When You Are Lying, Anyway.

Distrust for politicians has been going on for a long time.  Until now, little could be done to see if a public speaker was lying or not.  Technology and Science has now evolved so that we can have a "Truth Indicator" when a person speaks in public.

How can we tell if someone is lying?  

• Might we observe the speaker's body language in addition to their words?  
• Could the speaker's body language cue us into their lying?  
• Perhaps we could ask the speaker why they appeared so nervous answering a question.

"Truth in Politics" is a major concern worldwide.  According to a recent article in Time, even the U.S. Supreme Court is taking action to prevent lying in politics.

For many years the only truth-detecting tool available was the Polygraph (Lie-Detector).  Technology and science has evolved, however, to give the public more tools to detect lying.  In fact, no physical contact is necessary now and can be used over a distance.

• Books are available now to teach anyone how to detect lies by just observing "body language".  Some of the more popular books are "Lie catcher : become a human lie detector in under 60 minutes" by David Craig, "Liespotting" by Pamela Meyer et. al., "Spy the lie : former CIA officers show you how to detect deception" by Philip Houston et al.
• An example of current/future technology is the AVATAR lie detector, as presented by ABC.  Thus, anyone speaking in public could be observed and evaluated by a remote lie detector, such as AVATAR.
• Another example  using science to detect lies is the Fox TV show "Lie to Me", wherein facial expressions and body language are used to determine truth or not.
• There is even a "Facial and Ocular Lie Detector" Android App, which might be modified for use with television broadcasts of public speakers.

What could be done going forward to improve truth in public speaking?  Some possibilities are listed below.

• Maybe the news media could have "Truth Meters" on the bottom of the TV screen showing the stress level of public speakers.  
• Investigative reporters could factor body language into crafting questions for the speaker.  
• The voting public could learn how to "read" the public speaker to determine the level of trust.
• Perhaps only having the possibility of exposing lies might be enough incentive for speakers to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth".  This might be analogous to security cameras reminding  us to be honest.

We, the public, need the truth to make informed decisions, e.g. on how to vote and whom to support.  Perhaps, these techniques could be implemented in upcoming election campaigns.  After election these tools could be an ongoing "Truth Watchdog".

The purpose of this article is to stimulate discussion, innovation, and implementation of ways to enhance "Truth in Politics".  It seems like the concepts presented in this article should have little or no impact on the honest public speaker (politician) who has nothing to hide from the public.

To end this serious topic on a lighter note, here is a short video where "Johnny Carson is a politician taking a polygraph test in a Mighty Carson Art Players Skit on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" in 1982."

Disclaimer - Article is for information only and is not legal advice.