The Neuroscience of Lying:
-February 5, 2006
"The neuroscience of lying lying seems to be the topic of the day. In the last month alone two popular articles have appeared covering recent attempts to unveil the brain signatures of lying. The first came out in the January issue of Wired.
Both articles basically report the same story. Aftet 9/11 the American government has become highly interested in procuring a sure-fire method of spotting liers. The American military has a whole department, the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute (DODpi), working exclusively on inventing an easy-to-use device that in the future will be able to tell apart lies from the truth. Clearly such a device will have to be based on the ability to identify physical tell-tale signs that a person is lying. And to do so, DODpi will have to know the neural cause of lying. Reportedly more than 50 American labs are currently working on identifying these brain processes.
Not much, however, is known about the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying lying. Chances are that lying cannot be associated with just one “lie-module”. When lying you must be able to distinguish the lie from the truth; you will probably have to activate your ToM-system in order to organize your lie in accordance with what you think the other person knows and wants to hear; in some situations you have to remember what you have previously told other persons; you certainly have to plan ahead; and most probably you will have to control your emotional system. These cognitive mechanisms all rely on numerous neural processes.
So, what to do about structures that show up on statistical parametric maps in fMRI experiments? Dan Langleben – the first researcher to study lying with fMRI – have demonstrated that making a lie is associated with elevated activity in the anterior cingulate cortex."
‘The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is the frontal part of the cingulate cortex, that resembles a "collar" form around the corpus callosum, the fibrous bundle that relays neural signals between the right and left cerebral hemispheres of the brain. It includes both the ventral and dorsal areas of the cingulate cortex, and appears to play a role in a wide variety of autonomic functions, such as regulating blood pressure and heart rate, as well as rational cognitive functions, such as reward anticipation, decision-making, empathy, and emotion.'
"How Brain Scans are Reinventing the Science of Lie Detection"
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.01/lying_pr.html
"I'm flat on my back in a very loud machine, trying to keep my mind quiet. It's not easy. The inside of an fMRI scanner is narrow and dark, with only a sliver of the world visible in a tilted mirror above my eyes. Despite a set of earplugs, I'm bathed in a dull roar punctuated by a racket like a dryer full of sneakers.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging - fMRI for short - enables researchers to create maps of the brain's networks in action as they process thoughts, sensations, memories, and motor commands. Since its debut in experimental medicine 10 years ago, functional imaging has opened a window onto the cognitive operations behind such complex and subtle behavior as feeling transported by a piece of music or recognizing the face of a loved one in a crowd. As it migrates into clinical practice, fMRI is making it possible for neurologists to detect early signs of Alzheimer's disease and other disorders, evaluate drug treatments, and pinpoint tissue housing critical abilities like speech before venturing into a patient's brain with a scalpel.
The polygraph is widely considered unreliable in scientific circles, partly because its effectiveness depends heavily on the intimidation skills of the interrogator. What a polygraph actually measures is the stress of telling a lie, as reflected in accelerated heart rate, rapid breathing, rising blood pressure, and increased sweating. Sociopaths who don't feel guilt and people who learn to inhibit their reactions to stress can slip through a polygrapher's net. Gary Ridgway, known as the Green River Killer, and CIA double agent Aldrich.
Ames passed polygraph tests and resumed their criminal activities. While evidence based on polygraph tests is barred from most US trials, the device is being used more frequently in parole and child-custody hearings and as a counterintelligence tool in the war on terrorism. Researchers believe that fMRI should be tougher to outwit because it detects something much harder to suppress: neurological evidence of the decision to lie."
Outburst During 2009 Presidential Address:
On September 9, 2009, Wilson shouted at President Barack Obama while Obama addressed a joint session of Congress to outline his proposal for reforming health care. During his address, Obama said: "There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false – the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." In a breach of decorum, Wilson pointed at Obama and shouted, "You lie!". Wilson attracted national and international attention for the incident. He said afterwards that his outburst reflected his view that the bill would provide government-subsidized benefits to illegal immigrants.
Then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel immediately approached senior Republican lawmakers and asked them to identify the heckler and urge him to apologize immediately. Members of Congress from both parties condemned the outburst. "Totally disrespectful," said Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) of Wilson's utterance. "No place for it in that setting or any other and he should apologize immediately." Wilson said later in a statement:
This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the President's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.
Obama later accepted Wilson's apology. "I'm a big believer that we all make mistakes," he said. "He apologized quickly and without equivocation and I'm appreciative of that."
Conlfict Resolution:
Conflict resolution is a range of methods of eliminating sources of conflict. The term "conflict resolution" is sometimes used interchangeably with the term dispute resolution or alternative dispute resolution. Processes of conflict resolution generally include negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy. The processes of arbitration, litigation, and formal complaint processes such as ombudsman processes, are usually described with the term dispute resolution, although some refer to them as "conflict resolution." Processes of mediation and arbitration are often referred to as alternative dispute resolution.
~Good Will Hunting~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWoFPcdcA1E
Say I'm working at N.S.A. and somebody puts a code on my desk, something no one else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East, and once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hidin'- fifteen hundred people that I never met, never had no problem with get killed.
Now the politicians are sayin', oh, "Send in the marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot, just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie over there, takin' shrapnel in the ass; he comes back to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from, and the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks.
Meanwhile he realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so that we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price, and of course the oil companies use the little skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices- a cute little ancillary benefit for them, but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. They're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, o' course, maybe they even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis an' fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs; it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic.
So now my buddy's outta work, he can't afford to drive, so he's walkin' to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids, and meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat, the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State.
So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure fuck it, while I'm at it, why not just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected President.
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