How to spot a liar
33,243,734 views |
Pamela Meyer |
TEDGlobal 2011
• July 2011
On any given day we're lied to from 10 to 200 times, and the clues to detect those lies can be subtle and counter-intuitive. Pamela Meyer, author of "Liespotting," shows the manners and "hotspots" used by those trained to recognize deception -- and she argues honesty is a value worth preserving. (Contains mature content)
On any given day we're lied to from 10 to 200 times, and the clues to detect those lies can be subtle and counter-intuitive. Pamela Meyer, author of "Liespotting," shows the manners and "hotspots" used by those trained to recognize deception -- and she argues honesty is a value worth preserving. (Contains mature content)
This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.
About the speaker
Pamela Meyer thinks we’re facing a pandemic of deception, but she’s arming people with tools that can help take back the truth.
Ralph Keyes | St. Martin's Press, 2004 | Book
This author, who coined the term 'post-truth era,' argues that our modern society is awash in a type of lie that is neither truth nor fiction, but more akin to 'casual dishonesty.' An older book that is still relevant today and was way ahead of its time.
John J. Mearsheimer | Oxford University Press, 2013 | Book
Lying and diplomacy — a match made in heaven.
Philip Houston et al. | St. Martin's Griffin, 2013 | Book
Terrific real-world tips on ferreting out lies, by three deception experts who worked on counterterrorism and criminal intelligence cases.
Robert Feldman | Twelve Books, 2010 | Book
A great book from a University of Massachusetts psychology professor about how and why deception is eroding our culture. This deception expert authored the famous study that found strangers lie to each other about three times in the first ten minutes of meeting each other.
James B. Stewart | Penguin, 2012 | Book
An investigative journalist delves deep into America’s most prominent lies and liars. Stewart focuses on many of the 'greats,' including Martha Stewart, Barry Bonds and Bernie Madoff.
Aldert Vrij | Wiley, 2008 | Book
A reliable handbook for any aspiring student of deception. This comprehensive book by the Swedish researcher reviews numerous studies and much of the foundational research on lie detection.
Paul Ekman | W. W. Norton & Company, 2009 | Book
A fantastic book by the father of emotion research. Ekman outlines common motives for lying, the science of using facial expressions ('microexpressions') to detect deception and the concept of leakage.
Charles Darwin | CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012 | Book
Charles Darwin believed that facial expressions were biologically determined and identical across all cultures. In this 1872 book, he explores such topics as 'gradation from loud laughter to gentle smiling' and 'shame from broken moral laws and conventional rules.'
G.-B. Duchenne de Boulogne and R. Andrew Cuthbertson (Translator) | Cambridge University Press, 2006 | Book
French physician Guillaume Duchenne identified the physical difference between a false or 'social' smile — one made consciously, using only the mouth muscles — and a genuine, spontaneous smile made involuntarily, using the muscles of both the eyes and the mouth. In his honor, genuine smiles are now called 'Duchenne smiles.'
Dan Ariely | Harper Perennial, 2013 | Book
A fun, research-based look at cheating and dishonesty by this well-known behavioral economist. The book touches on everything from why creative people are better liars to why wearing knockoff fashion accessories will make you more dishonest.
St. Augustine | Nabu Press, 2012 | Book
A classic. St. Augustine believed that a lie occurs when we 'hold one thing in our heart and say another.'
David Livingstone Smith | St. Martin's Griffin, 2007 | Book
An important history of lying and deception.
David DeSteno | Hudson Street Press, 2014 | Book
This fascinating book by this well-known psychologist touches on the most recent science in the field of deception and trust. He delves into topics such as the importance of reading body language and the biological foundations of trust. Interestingly, he argues that integrity even among the most trustworthy is an unstable trait that can waver when faced with personal gain.
Nicholas Epley | Knopf, 2014 | Book
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Daniel Kahneman | Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013 | Book
Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, presents a compelling examination of intuition, decision-making and judgment.
Chip and Dan Heath | Random House Business, 2014 | Book
A very valuable book, especially the authors’ discussion about the 'spotlight effect': 'What’s in the spotlight will rarely be everything we need to make a good decision, but we won’t always remember to shift the light. Sometimes, in fact, we’ll forget there’s a spotlight at all, dwelling so long in the tiny circle of light that we forget there’s a broader landscape beyond it.'
Alex Pentland | The MIT Press, 2010 | Book
Pentland’s fascinating research on 'honest signals,' the nonverbal forms of communication between individuals that when observed can predict outcomes of very diverse situations, such as speed-dating, salary negotiations and job interviews.
Max Bazerman and Ann Tenbrunsel | Princeton University Press, 2012 | Book
A look at how and why people end up making dishonest, deceptive choices, by two renowned business ethicists.
Guy Kawasaki | Portfolio Trade, 2011 | Book
If you want to know the biggest lies told by entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, lawyers and CEOs, Kawasaki’s your guy.
This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.