wrote on Mar 13^th, 2003 at 10:23pm:

when people tell me that they have a guilty "conscious" it is usually because they feel guilty about something.  You may not think it's relevant to the polygraph exam, but you appear to be witholding something that you feel guilty about.  Just let your examiner know what you are thinking about when you hear those questions you mentioned, and you will be fine.  Most of the time the examiner isn't really concerned with information you provide, only that you provided everything.

Yep.  Absolutely everything, regardless of whether it has any bearing on whether you can be trusted with a clearance.  Tell your most irrelevant and embarrassing secrets, or you won't "pass" (or at the very least, you can expect to be subject to a high-pressure three-hour interrogation or two).

Can you see why many people would have a problem with this?  Don't you?

For the record, of course, "guilty conscience" can also refer to being jumpy when someone in a position of authority is questioning you about something, or even being jumpy simply being around said authority.  It could also refer more generally to the "fear of consequences" mentioned by Dr. Richardson.

Please don't think I don't understand why the NSA does this.  I do, and I can appreciate their reasoning.  But even knowing the rationale, I don't agree with it.  And I know for a fact that they miss out on much-needed talent as a result.

Skeptic