Hi, I'm new here.

Can anyone give me a definitive answer as to whether lie-detectors are beatable or not? Perhaps I would have to 
pay for a test and try it as an experiment (I don't know what it costs).

I REALLY NEED TO KNOW!  ???



I read lots of claims by people that all you have to do is get a good night's sleep and relax, but then there are assertations by people who are, or who have been, polygraph operators who say "Forget it. Countermeasures are just a myth perpetuated by the internet".

Living in the U.K, it's highly unlikely I will ever have to take a polygraph test, but the idea frightens me. Can you really beat the machine? They put cables around your chest to monitor chest movement, pads at your feet so you can't clench your toes, and a pressure pad on your seat so you can't even clench your butt!! 

Every teeny tiny little twitch, change in electrical resistance, change in sweat levels, is monitored.. I can imagine trying to beat the machine and being totally defeated.

Are all these claims of "how to beat the lie detector" just empty boasts? Are the people who post messages about 
how they beat the test or how they were shocked at being 
wrongly found guilty just talking crap? I just don't know.

The polygraph operators reply in a manner that reminds me of scientists responding for the 1000th time to UFO nuts who are convinced that Roswell really happened. They reply as if it's an absurd belief and they've grown tired of trying to convince idiots of scientific fact.

I find it hard to not believe the polygraph operators.

I'm sure it's been said a hundred times in this forum, but the argument "if you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear" angers me.

It's a terribly glib response to an issue that deeply affects 
our rights of personal privacy; our right to think and feel and do things that may do no one any harm, but may cost us our repututations, our dignity, our chance for a decent job. For example, lots of people take illegal drugs  recreationally - perhaps just once in a couple of weeks or on special occasions; no one gets hurt, it doesn't melt their brains, no one needs to know. But... But if you are "requested" to take a polygraph for your employer it could see you blacklisted for life. and as for having to take a lie detector test to get a job.. what are your chances? And who is to say that the information won't be passed on?

It disturbs me that we seem to be living in a world that is increasingly controlled by puritans who see to it that only "good" people have nothing to fear.

So what am I really like?..

Do I take drugs? No, nothing illegal anyway - amyl once in a while (legal in the UK). 

Would I ever do hard drugs? Probably not. I will very likely try magic mushrooms sometime, maybe I'll even try cocaine one day, but the whole "drugs scene" isn't really for me.

Am I a child molestor? Not in a million years, but I don't feel guilty about watching 16 year old girls in short skirts.

Am I a pervert? Depends what you think about BDSM.

Am I a thief? Nope. I've never stolen anything except junk and a couple of nuts and bolts from work.

A "cheat"? I would never cheat on a girl, but then I also believe in polyamorystic relationships (swinging) - something I would not conceal.

Why am I telling you this? Because any of the above confessions would be enough to see me castigated by 
the people who employ the use of lie detectors! Be they 
employers or chat show hosts (I do so hate those smug 
egotists.. "the polygraph says you lied Todd! You're a LIAR Todd! Bob, you FAILED the polygraph, we KNOW you cheated on your wife, Bob"... oh how I hate them).


Polygraph operators... I think if I ever had to take a test and all my secrets were revealed, one of us would walk out and the other would be taken out feet first.

I sincerely hope lie detectors don't work.