COM 255A Top 5 Highlights!

These are the 5 things I took away from the course that have truly altered the way I think about things. There were many more but these in particular stood out.

5. The existence of politifact.com

Politifact.com

I had no idea that there was a website available that was actually dedicated to determining if politicians were telling the truth. It may not be something to invest 100% of your faith in, but if you really want to know the "truth" it's definitely something to check out.

4. Terrific story? Facts are optional

barnesandnoble.com

When a story is great and fulfills what the reader wanted, sometimes they don't care if everything in it was 100% true. The main take away? If you're gone to lie, make it a great enough lie to where your intended audience wants to believe it and DOESN'T want to question it.

3. More technology = easier to interact AND easier to lie

Via distrategykit.weebly.com

The double edged sword of increased technology truly exists with a special case of pros and cons. Technological advancements make society seem smaller and many more people are accessible, but this accessibility opens the door for more lying and deception than ever before.

2. Polygraphs don't actually detect lies

Via polytest.org

The polygraph detects physiological changes in a person's body that are the result of arousal, anxiety, and/or stress. This is important to consider because if one is able to understand and recreate their body's patterns when lying they can potentially beat a test. Don't trust that polygraph 100%!

1. Deceivers are competent socially

Via blacksportsonline.com

The more skilled a person is at communication, typically the more skilled they are at lying. If you want to get better at getting away with lies, work on your social skills. If you want to get better at deception detection study the most socially skilled and assume everything is a lie.