The Issue with Liars

They're annoying because they think that they're getting away with it.  In most cases the liar and the person being lied to are complicit because someone has to choose to believe the lie.  When someone lies to us we know something is not right.  Either it is evident at the time or shortly thereafter we realize that everyone just doesn't connect.  We want to believe that people are telling us the truth.

Pamela Meyer from Liespotting.com gives us a few tools based on her analysis of well know liars. http://liespotting.com/2010/08/pamela-meyer-on-the-huffington-post/

There are television liars then there are people in our normal lives and course of business that we work with every day that may be less than truthful.  My concern is for people who's real feelings and intentions don't match their words or intentions particularly when those intentions are malicious but the words are deflecting or comforting.

Gladwell's 2002 article in the New Yorker http://www.gladwell.com/2002/2002_08_05_a_face.htm describes researcher Paul Ekman's studies of the human face and expressions.  We all read faces but we listen to the words first.  This article suggests that the real information comes from the faces.  Believe what you see, not what you hear.  You have to trust your first instinct, not your logical rationalization or thought around the words.

When you're running in the woods for hours at a time your mind wanders but somehow you're able to avoid the roots and rocks and keep your balance.  You're not consciously thinking about placing your feet or keeping yourself upright but your visual input and some place in your mind keeps you moving and safe.  When you catch that hint of movement across the trail somehow deep in your reptile brain a danger flag pops, you get a jolt of adrenaline and manage to jump over or around the snake.  If you pay attention that flag will pop up when people are lying to you.  You just have to watch for it.