Human Lie Detectors

Many people have wondered at the abilities of savants. These are people who have very low intelligence, yet they can do seemingly impossible mental tasks. Some savants have been able to instantly name the day of the week when given any date within the last 6,000 years. Others have been able to instantly give a correct solution to tedious mathematical calculations. Could such abilities reflect a throwback to the mental abilities the human race once had?

Research suggests another ability that man may have been created with – but which most of us have lost – is the ability to detect when we are being lied to. Researchers suspected that people with brain damage that limits their ability to understand speech might be superior at detecting lies. Such people, who have damage to the left hemisphere of their brain, are called aphasics. The study included aphasics who could understand individual words but not sentences. The study group also included undergraduate students. They were all shown a videotape of ten people, each appearing in two segments. In one segment, each person lied, while in another the person told the truth. The undergraduates did no better than chance would allow at detecting lies. However, the aphasics could accurately detect a lie almost two thirds of the time!

Were we created with the ability to detect when we are being lied to? Such ability surely doesn’t arise by chance but is rather a God-given gift for our protection.

Exodus 20:16
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

Prayer:
Lord, help me to always honor the truth in my speech. Amen.

Notes:
Nature, 5/11/00, p. 139, “Lie detection and language comprehension.” Photo: Polygrahp testing (PD)