FMRI and a lie detector which works

We may be on the verge of getting lie detectors which work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_detection#fMRI

It's not quite there yet, but there's every reason to think it's imminent.

The implications could be metaphorically earth-shattering.

Crime would be extremely difficult to get away with unless you managed to avoid becoming a suspect or the authorities were somehow unaware that a crime had taken place.

The false-positive and false-negative problems in criminal trials would be all but eliminated.

Similarly for civil matters, deceit could not be used to acquire unjust compensation or avoid paying it was when due.

Politicians could be prevented from lying to us. They would have to believe what they said. They would also not get away with deceiving us without telling an actual untruth. They would have to state their opinions honestly.

Is this a good thing? What would a world be like where we couldn't deceive the authorities and they couldn't deceive us?

Beyond that the technology could eventually be practical for use in matters of business and personal matters.

We might actually find ourselves in a world where honesty was the only viable option.

It sounds like a beautiful world, but an enormous adjustment for some.

I'm keen to hear the thoughts of others on the matter.

The false-positive and false-negative problems in criminal trials would be all but eliminated.

I don't think they would, very much.

The same way it's entirely possible and common for police interrogators to illicit false confessions from people.

Human memory is extremely fallible too.

So whilst you may be able to tell if someone is sincere and not intending to deceive, they still might be wrong.

 

Is this a good thing? What would a world be like where we couldn't deceive the authorities and they couldn't deceive us?

 

I'm keen to hear the thoughts of others on the matter.

Thats only providing it would be compulsory for everyone to take it as many, I'm sure, would be exempt. Then we have our very own official secrets act where it may not be in the public interest to know the truth. The we also have the problem where people could be trained to fool the scan.

Can't see Liberty letting that one slide through.

It raises important issues about whether people should be forced to incriminate themselves.

There's also something very human about lying, as in this Louis CK comedy clip:

We may be on the verge of getting lie detectors which work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_detection#fMRI

It's not quite there yet, but there's every reason to think it's imminent.

 

The implications could be metaphorically earth-shattering.

Crime would be extremely difficult to get away with unless you managed to avoid becoming a suspect or the authorities were somehow unaware that a crime had taken place.

The false-positive and false-negative problems in criminal trials would be all but eliminated.

Similarly for civil matters, deceit could not be used to acquire unjust compensation or avoid paying it was when due.

Politicians could be prevented from lying to us. They would have to believe what they said. They would also not get away with deceiving us without telling an actual untruth. They would have to state their opinions honestly.

 

Is this a good thing? What would a world be like where we couldn't deceive the authorities and they couldn't deceive us?

 

Beyond that the technology could eventually be practical for use in matters of business and personal matters.

 

We might actually find ourselves in a world where honesty was the only viable option.

 

It sounds like a beautiful world, but an enormous adjustment for some.

I'm keen to hear the thoughts of others on the matter.

I don't think this will work.

Questions are always questionable

Responses seem to be along the lines of it won't work for some reason.

I don't think you're right.

Okay so you have to be careful of question phrasing and people can only answer honestly or not within the confines of what they understand to be the truth.

But with careful question phrasing and cross-checking, plus perhaps using the same technology to look for signs of a mental health problem; there's enormous potential.

There would still be some margin for error and you would not abandon physical evidence or anything silly like that. But at the moment we rely on people to judge the honesty of others and we're crap at it. This would be a dramatic improvement.

We may be on the verge of getting lie detectors which work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_detection#fMRI

It's not quite there yet, but there's every reason to think it's imminent.

 

The implications could be metaphorically earth-shattering.

Crime would be extremely difficult to get away with unless you managed to avoid becoming a suspect or the authorities were somehow unaware that a crime had taken place.

The false-positive and false-negative problems in criminal trials would be all but eliminated.

Similarly for civil matters, deceit could not be used to acquire unjust compensation or avoid paying it was when due.

Politicians could be prevented from lying to us.

They could if they answered the actual question that was asked, but they invariably respond to the question without a yes/no answer don`t they, as in the famous Jeremy Paxman interview.