I’m in the middle of a scene where the Yellow [a very powerful healer] is interrogating Death using its paranormal talents to work out whether Death is lying or not.
Death must lie, and the Yellow must believe the lie, but how can it when it’s aware of Death’s feelings?
That was the point at which I remembered that sociopaths were supposed to be very good at cheating real world polygraph tests. As iVokh are essentially sociopaths, I realised that what worked in the real world might also work in Vokhtah.
That led me to the internet where I found this fascinating article in Wikihow: https://www.wikihow.com/Cheat-a-Polygraph-Test-(Lie-Detector)
If you’ve ever secretly wondered how people can cheat the polygraph test, it boils down to knowing how the machine and the interrogator asking the questions work together. This can be broken down into a few key things:
- The control questions – i.e. the harmless questions – allow the machine to gauge what physiological reactions the subject has when ‘telling the truth’.
- These reactions then become the baseline against which the ‘real’ – i.e. dangerous – questions are compared.
- If you can change your physiological reactions to the control questions, the baseline will be faulty.
- Then, when the real questions are asked, the machine will not be able to tell which answer is a lie because the lies will resemble the baseline.
Of course the skill of the interrogator also comes into it, but I now have enough to write the scene convincingly. -joy-
cheers
Meeks
July 24th, 2020 at 2:33 pm
[…] uses its power to feel the Assistant’s emotions while it’s being interrogated [think paranormal polygraph test], but it’s the Yellow’s own emotions that colour how it interprets the […]
LikeLike
June 14th, 2020 at 5:03 am
Another interresting person to investigate is Sam Vaknin, who is a self-confessed narcissist and psychopath. He talks about their perspective openly, as does H.G. Tudor. They will probably change your perspective on everything you thought you knew about the world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 4:43 am
Those of us who have experienced narcissistic abuse first-hand recognise that the number is far,far higher. It is my view that most people have a narcissist or a sociopath in theit life somewhere. Of coutse there is a range. Paul Bernardo and Tommy Lynn Sells are at the extreme endof the spectrum.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 11:29 am
Thank you for giving me such valuable resources. I’m writing about a totally alien species, but ultimately all fiction is based on /us/ isn’t it? I will try to hold that mirror up with honesty.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 11:37 am
Totally fitting. This is almost exactly how some sociopaths seem to describe themselves.
LikeLike
June 13th, 2020 at 5:00 pm
Actually if you are in a toxic relationship, you are always the villain. There will be plenty of people around to support that theory too. Flying monkeys are the worst. Sociopaths and the like are often charming and personable. I was watching Tommy Lyn Sells yesterday. Whilst he was downright menacing talking in one interview, by his final interview I could see the swagger was gone and he was turning on the charm. I suggest you visit You Tube and study some real sociopaths etc. Another interesting one is the Canadian Paul Bernardo.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 13th, 2020 at 11:29 pm
Flying monkeys? Sorry, I don’t understand that reference. And yes, I know they’re meant to be charming. I guess the real question is: how many of them are out there. I suspect the number is far bigger than we expect. I’ll check out those names. Thanks for the info.
LikeLike
June 14th, 2020 at 4:51 am
If you visit my blog. and reach out via my contact form, I can .tell you about sociopaths and the like. I have had more personal experience than I would have liked
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 11:26 am
I’ll be honest with you, just at the moment I think I prefer the blue pill. I’m a little ashamed of my cowardice, but my interest in sociopaths is only because of my fiction. In real life I want to maintain some illusions about humanity, especially at a time when we have the capacity to destroy everything, including ourselves. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 11:42 am
I don’t blame you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 5:32 am
You can find both Sam Vaknin and H,G. Tudor here on WordPress. If you have ever seen the film The Matrix., well just as they say in The Matrix, you can carry on in this world, or as they say in the film,”Take the red pill and understand the truth”, but at the risk of neing melodramatic, it may just change your life.”There is some great reading material like The Sociopath Next Door https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/72536.The_Sociopath_Next_Door Confessions of a Sociopath. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15841837-confessions-of-a-sociopath
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 11:23 am
Yes, the Matrix is one of my favourite movies. I’ve always thought I’d take the red pill but…now I’m not so sure. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 11:39 am
The movie describes the dilemma exactly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 13th, 2020 at 4:53 pm
Writing everything down is key. I learned to manage the situation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 13th, 2020 at 11:30 pm
You shouldn’t have to. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 4:53 am
It was either that or aa you say, go nuts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 11:23 am
-hugs-
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 5:50 am
These terms may be useful to understand if you are writing about sociopaths.https://narcissistfamilyfiles.com/2017/09/19/narcissism-101-a-glossary-of-terms-for-understanding-the-madness/
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 14th, 2020 at 11:19 am
Thank you for that link. Like most people, I’ve seen that word bandied about without any real understanding of what it actually /means/. Just reading through that glossary of terms was chilling. In hindsight, I think I may have come across some narcissists in the past.
Are narcissists on the sociopathy spectrum? The lack of empathy was mentioned, and I’ve always assumed that was an almost universal sign.
LikeLike
June 13th, 2020 at 4:42 pm
I came to the conclusion that the toxic person in my life, just grew to believe his own lies, which was why he was so convincing.It is my belief that they effectively rewire their own brains to the point where they are almost physically incapable of telling the truth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 13th, 2020 at 4:46 pm
Very true. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. What’s that old saying? ‘No one is the villain in their own story?’ Something like that. It is scary to see it happening though. Makes you wonder if you’re going insane yourself.
LikeLike
June 12th, 2020 at 10:03 am
The trick, I suspect, is to be able to switch between ‘truth’ and ‘fiction’ without blinking an eye! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 12th, 2020 at 10:13 am
lol – or getting clammy palms!
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 12th, 2020 at 10:26 am
Really, all bodily functions should be on ‘pause’ for the duration! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 12th, 2020 at 10:27 am
Should, yes. I’m one of those unfortunate people who simply can’t lie. One look at my face and you’d know. I have no control whatsoever.
LikeLike
June 12th, 2020 at 5:03 am
Interesting How-To… sort of how to think like a sociopath… But really useful information for fiction writers!
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 12th, 2020 at 10:14 am
Yes, very much so, although I suspect that sociopaths probably find it a lot easier than ‘normal’ people.
LikeLike
June 11th, 2020 at 2:18 pm
How interesting. I wonder how you change your reactions to the base questions? I imagine that sociopaths have different reactions anyway given that their psychology is different.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 12th, 2020 at 10:17 am
I think you’re right, which is probably why the test is so problematic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 11th, 2020 at 1:23 pm
I have never liked psychometrics as a real-world thing because it is both arbitrary and judgemental: a system stuck, in effect, in the faulty philosophies of the early-mid twentieth century. Polygraphs are a particularly pernicious example because of the additional aura of ‘science’ about them. I am not convinced that the theory behind them is valid – the ease with which they can be cheated suggests it isn’t. On the other hand, using the general principles to sort out a story issue sounds great!
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 12th, 2020 at 10:22 am
I suspect that the polygraph ‘evolved’ out of the tells we use [subconsciously] to judge whether someone’s telling the truth or not. The problem is that while lying may cause me to have clammy palms, hot flushes, and an inability to make eye contact, the same does not apply to everyone. Which is why we get fooled so often in real life.
And as the how-to pointed out, if you know how the system works, you can game it because the ‘control questions’ only work on naive victims, I mean people. 🙂
LikeLike