Lie Detectors

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From the TELL US section: Lie detectors

Can you tell a lie and keep a straight face?

If you can, how do I know that you’re telling the truth?

For centuries, we humans have tried several dubious methods for determining whether someone is lying or not. Back in medieval England, fire and water always seemed to be the two favorite elements used in these tests. In the end, however, the issues of honesty and deception really didn't matter; if you were considered innocent you still suffered as if you had lied to begin with.

For example, if they tested you with fire and you burned (and who wouldn’t burn?), they hanged you. And if you floated when they threw you into a lake, well, they hanged you. Even if you knew the “rules” going into the game, and decided to sink, you faced the same result: death. This time by drowning. It was a lose-lose situation.

Centuries later, Dr. John Larson and Leonard Keeler developed the polygraph machine, or lie detector, in the early 20th century. The who man popularized it, however, was named William Marston.

Marston swore by the machine’s accuracy, but when it was used in the 1923 court case Frye vs. the United States, judges determined the lie detector wasn’t reliable evidence.

Since then, lie detectors haven’t been used in the US court system.

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Vocabulary:

Straight face. Cara de póker

To tell the truth (verbo irregular: tell / told / told). Decir la verdad

Dubious. Dudoso, sospechoso

To hang. Ahorcar. (¡Cuidado! En este sentido, el verbo “to hang” es regular. Si quieres decir “colgar”, también utilizas el verbo “to hang”, pero es irregular: hang / hung / hung)

To drown. Ahogarse.

To swear by (verbo irregular: swear / swore / sworn). Tener plena confianza en

Accuracy. Precisión

Reliable. Fiable

Published by: Drew Crosby