Lie detectors do they exist.

Im a novice, have never had a reason to learn about them. Don't know if they work or not. Drug therapy such as Truth serum. Couldn't tell you if they exist. I would wish they do in some way. But I wouldn't be able to tell you. There is a number of not coincidences which would seem I have different answers than the others involved. On that basis I want to find out about lie detectors. Anyone have any suggestions?

reply to post by jvarga390


Not sure I quite understand your question in it's entirety. Polygraphs (lie detectors) don't detect lies, the monitor physiological changes in your body which involuntarily happen when you become stressed or nervous. In short no they don't work. At least not well enough to be admissible in a court of law as evidence, and they can be beaten with a little training.

Truth serum, typically sodium pentathol, only lowers the subjects inhibitions making it more likely for them to drop their guard and spill their guts. There are other chemicals used as truth serum, but sodium pentathol is the most common and they all work in essentially the same way, by lowering the subjects inhibitions.

If my live would depend on the outcoming of a lie detector-test or "heads-or-tail" coin flipping, I would prefer the coin. As it is unbiased.

Every interrogator using a lie detector has some kind of bias against or in favor to you, so those "results" the machine provides, as they are always open to interpretation, would be fouled by the bias.

There is no red light for a LIE on top of those machines. They are printing out some readings and a "trained professional" has to decide upon your current and prior reactions documented by that machine if you just told a lie or not.

This is not possible in a 100% perfect objective way. Therefore, errors can and will and have been found.

You can sort of do the thing with an fMRI machine, by detecting which brain areas light up when you are put a question.

But a polygraph is a sort of blunt knife. A good operator can get a lot out of you with one, as long as you aren't taking something to screw up his readings. Or if you're trained to be able to lie on one, which you can do with a bit of practice. Or you can do the old thumbtack routine.

As far as truth serum goes, it's not like Harry Potter. Again though, if you've got a good interrogation team, you can use the cocktail on the person you're interrogating and get a lot of useful info. It takes a skilled hand and time to really work it right, though, or you'll get raw data that may be bogus.

Curious. The fliping of a coin heads or tails. What is the probability of either heads or tails no matter how many times you flip the coin?

reply to post by jvarga390


That depends on the coin used. A US penny lands on tails more frequently than heads because the heads side is slightly heavier making it fall first. Some coins it's about 50/50 as long as both sides are even. It really all depends on how thick and large the images on the coin are to determine if it will fall one way or the other more easily or evenly.

Originally posted by jvarga390
Curious. The fliping of a coin heads or tails. What is the probability of either heads or tails no matter how many times you flip the coin?

I've always wondered this. I like to think that whatever side is face up is the less likely side to be landed on.. Always been that way for me.

reply to post by jvarga390


Yes they do. Google is your friend btw.

How is that even a question?

You ask how accurate lie detectors are since they do not actually detect lies per se but the operator interprets your physical reactions to certain questions. But the existence of them is undeniable.

Plus as another member suggested, using an fmri machine may be a real way to actually spot a lie. You could see if that person is using his or her memory to answer a question or rather the creative part of the brain.

reply to post by EViLKoNCEPTz


Scopolamine, while it can be used in small doses as the active ingredient in anti nausea patches, is known in its raw state as Devils Breath. Strong doses of this stuff, can induce a state where the subject is rendered unable to excersize thier will power in any way what so ever. People who have been dosed with it have helped thieves clean out thier property of all valuables, taken robbers to cash points and drawn out all thier money, and handed it over, even held back thier abdomenal flesh while dodgy doctors have stolen thier organs.

If it will let a person do that, you can be that they would sing like a bird if it was used as a truth serum. Some damned scary stuff.

reply to post by Bedlam


The next revelation about the US intelligence machine?

They have machines to tell if you are lying (FMRI) and are working on the technology to extract information directly from your brain. If they have to blast you with radiation for an hour to do it? oh well. Freedom isn't free.

reply to post by InverseLookingGlass


fMRI's don't really use radiation. More like a big superconductive magnet and a smaller electromagnet that's driven by a radio frequency signal.

Try this one... USB Lie Detector