A long time reader of my blog, Russ Conte, has had an interest in the Wizards study, and has kindly sent me any publications he has found on it over the years.
As a math expert, he also told me the odds of passing the test. I thought it was interesting! He then decided to create a video explaining it — so here you go!
I hope you enjoy! Thanks for your time, Russ.
Here is a speech that Dr. O’Sullivan gave that is on YouTube sometime in the past year. She talks about “Lie to Me”, facial expressions and her research on “Truth Wizards”. I hope someone carries on her work. I haven’t heard anything yet, but I hope to soon! Check back tomorrow for Part 2.
Thanks, Russ, for pointing this out.
Don’t forget Season 2 of “Lie to Me” starts tonight! Go Monica Raymund, “Ria Torres” (the TV natural).
Here is an article that you might enjoy. Don’t forget to read page two!
I think O’Sullivan makes a fabulous point:
“It’s not merely seeing the behavior and recognizing it but in interpreting the situation”
In other words, while you’re scanning your date for the usual emotions someone might associate with lying — microexpressions of guilt or fear — you might be missing something bigger.
Your date might not feel guilty at all about lying to get you into bed. In fact, he might be concealing pride or cockiness at his ability to deceive you.”
I think her point is so important, because just seeing and identifying expressions and emotions isn’t enough to accurately understand a situation. So many people show emotional biases that skew their ability when they attempt to understand others, or they use their own past experiences to judge other people’s actions, which will not yield accurate results when reading others.
Read moreIt is critically important to be unbiased when you are trying to understand the actions of another, not jump to quick conclusions, and to explore every potential outcome possible that could explain a situation before formulating an opinion. Of course, doing this is much easier said then done.
How do you teach people to remove emotional and experiential biases? Biases and judgments cloud one’s ability to see the truth.
“Lie To Me” this week had a scene where Dr. Cal Lightman and Ria Torres, the natural, were talking about abuse. Dr. Cal Lightman said that because Torres suffered from abuse, that is why she became so good at reading body language. In another episode, Lightman said Torres was good because she didn’t have a higher education, so she had to rely on non-verbal communication more.
I wondered, after I saw those shows, if people wondered if I was a victim of abuse, or if I didn’t have a degree. I am happy to report I hold a masters of science degree, and that I was not abused as a child. I grew up in a solid home with no abuse of any kind. I had and still have loving parents.
I did have a traumatic childhood in school, however. I was bullied for years, I believe, because I was an ultra-sensitive child. If you said you disliked me, I was the type to cry my eyes out. If you told me to go away, I cried for hours. I had the thinnest skin on the planet and with that, I suspect, kids picked up on it and played me to the hilt. I became a victim to my own softness, and it took me until junior high to break out of it. I was highly taunted and teased for many years. It was very traumatic for me.
But if people who are abused develop this “sixth sense”, than there should be a lot of Truth Wizards out there, a lot more than the one percent identified by science. I personally don’t think this explains it.