There is some basic physiology that allows 'lie detectors' to work. But it is understood that there are ways to mask the physiological changes that are measured by lie detectors in order to indicate the possibility or likelihood that a response is a lie. So having the control necessary means that the 'lie' the subject utters does not cause any physiological changes and the examiner says, 'not a lie.'

But for ordinary folk, they work...

So imagine a shop in the mall where for $39.99, you can sit with an examiner and ask a subject questions for 20 minutes. You can have the examiner wearing ear protection so he or she can't hear the question, you'll just get a thumb's up or a thumb's down each time the subject gives a response.

I thought of this while reading the 'my wife outed me to the bishop' thread. Would the OP want to know if she is planning on leaving him?

Are there times in your life when spending $40 to get a read on a person would be worth the price? Sure, it wouldn't be 100% reliable, but most of us aren't dealing with sociopaths or psychopaths.

I understand that there are some employers who use lie detector questioning as part of the hiring process. Obviously there are some government jobs where it would be pro forma.

I think there would be some initial resistance to the idea of having lie detectors available for casual use, but might it not be useful for settling simple issues or misunderstandings?

"Okay, let's go to the mall. I want to ask you ...

about the lipstick on your collar
why there's only $22 in our bank account
who all is going on the business trip
when you last talked to your ex-wife
how come I found a condom in your purse
how the left front quarter panel got dented

... and I want to know that I'm hearing the truth!"

My ex lied and lied and lied and lied... It would have been the best $40 I'd ever spent to have known that. I probably would have met my G/F a year sooner!

Anyway, I know that there is no "Essence of Truth" salon coming to a mall near you in the foreseeable future.

Wow! This could be really good or bad. There are things no one wants to admit for instance, "do these jeans make me look fat?"
:)

Trouble with polygraphs is -- they really only sort of "work" on HONEST people. Those for whom telling a lie is "stressful."

So if the person you're questioning is an habitual liar, they'll pass with flying colors. And those are the people we'd most like to catch lying.

Oh, well :)

I'd sure like to take one if they really work. I'd like to give my kids a list of questions for the examiner to ask in their presence. It would be mostly a list of things that their father has told them I did that they believe, or things I've corrected that they don't believe.

Then I'd like the same questions to be asked of their father. He is a sociopath and pathological liar and could likely have all his answers show up as truthful. But even that would be ok. If we both show we're giving truthful answers to the same questions but we give totally different answers, maybe they'd go, "hmmm, something isn't right, here." They know I'm not smart enough to know how to cheat a polygraph.

There used to be an FBI polygraphist in our ward when I was growing up (the FBI loves hiring RMs).

He once explained to me that the value of a polygraph wasn't the test, which wasn't very reliable -- its value was as a prop.

For example, if a crime had been committed, and there were 5 suspects, they'd get them all to come in for a polygraph test. After the tests, one by one, they'd call them in and tell them, "There was a problem with your polygraph test. Isn't there something you'd like to tell us?" They did that with EVERYONE, no matter what the test results were.

He told me that 8 out of 10 times, the "guilty" person would fess up, because they thought the polygraph had nailed 'em. Even though usually the results of the tests were "inconclusive" at best.

Some philosophers think that there are no secrets in heaven. Everyone is an open book. The thing is, would Mormons abandon Joseph Smith if they knew every last little detail about him? I'm betting that he would still have his groupies no matter what.