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The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

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THE BOOK OF TELLS<br />

Columbia University in New York compared the signs<br />

that people use to detect lying with those that are<br />

actually associated with lying, they discovered that there<br />

was very little overlap. 12<br />

Eye <strong>Tells</strong><br />

Most people believe that gaze aversion is a sign <strong>of</strong> lying.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y assume that because liars feel guilty, embarrassed<br />

and apprehensive, they find it difficult to look their victim<br />

in the eye, and they therefore look away. This is not what<br />

happens. Firstly, patterns <strong>of</strong> gaze are quite unstable -<br />

while some liars avert their eyes, others actually increase<br />

the amount <strong>of</strong> time they spend looking at the other person.<br />

Because gaze is fairly easy to control, liars can use their<br />

eyes to project an image <strong>of</strong> honesty. Knowing that other<br />

people assume gaze aversion to be a sign <strong>of</strong> lying, many<br />

liars do the exact opposite - they deliberately increase<br />

their gaze to give the impression that they're telling the<br />

truth. So, if you want to know if someone's lying to you,<br />

don't limit your attention to shifty eyes - also look out for<br />

those moments when the other person is gazing at you<br />

more intently than usual!<br />

Another supposed sign <strong>of</strong> lying is rapid blinking. It's true<br />

that when we become aroused or our mind is racing,<br />

there's a corresponding increase in our blinking rate. Our<br />

normal blinking rate is about 20 blinks per minute, but it<br />

can increase to four or five times that figure when we feel<br />

under pressure. When people are lying they frequently<br />

become aroused, and when liars are searching for an<br />

answer to an awkward question, their thought processes<br />

290

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