Civil Servant

Here goes the stuck record again.

Under the present mind-set of most of the polygraph failures, you are probably correct that the polygraph is not going away. However, if every person who tells the truth, goes by your rules and still fails the poly would file individual lawsuits to make their polygraphers prove their assertians in a court of law, then there would not be time to give very many tests. From the posts that I read here, you would spend most of your time in the courtroom.

I will agree with you that are some very good sensors out there. I do not believe, though, any of them can differentiate between the anal squeeze and an uncontrolable nerve contraction. 

I can greatly advance my BP and heart rate by picturing my falling from a high altitude airplane. You or no other person on God's green earth can read my mind. All you know is that you see a spike on you machine therefore, your "opinion" is countermeasure use. Unfortunately, the polygrapher's "opinion" controls. One person, one machine controlling the livelyhood of an applicant. In my "opinion" this is wrong and none of your countermeasure claims would hold up in a court of law.

If I was a polygrapher and could accurately detect countermeasures, I would tell all my examinees "If you are thinking about using countermeasures, I WILL catch this one this way and that one that way, etc., so COME ON DOWN. Don't you think that would deter the use?

As I have said before. I am for anything, polygraph, Zerox machine, water cooler. etc., that can extract a TRUE confession in a criminal case. In some cases I might even use a rubber hose.