I've never been subjected to a polygraph examination and hope I'll never be but after finding this site a few days ago I've spent an unhealthy amount of time fantasizing about scenarios where I'm forced to take a lie detector test and fail it in spite of answering all the questions truthfully. I imagine that, in my stupidity, I'll feel nervous when asked questions about crimes or intent to commit crimes and the polygrapher will interpret that nervousness as a sign of dishonesty. I then imagine that the polygrapher won't believe me when I attempt to prove my innocence. I imagine that he will become very upset and yell at me and psychologically break me until I make a false confession in order to stop the torture. I understand that those angry interrogator drills are an act and a psychological game full of bluffs and shots in the dark, but I still worry that the interrogator will be such a good actor that I won't trust my knowledge and succumb under his pressure.

I also fantasize about scenarios where I am accused of a crime I didn't commit and the only way to prove my innocence is to pass a lie detector test. (I understand that lie detector tests lack scientific validity and therefore don't prove the truthfulness or falsity of anything, but since the public at large believe in those things it might be the only way to "prove" my innocence.) The problem with that fantasy is that it involves scenarios where I take the lie detector test, answer all the questions truthfully (even embarrassing control questions about personal things that no human being wants to answer honestly), but in my anxiety, stupidity or negative impression I made on the polygrapher, I fail the test. The court wouldn't accept those "incriminating" results as evidence because they understand that polygraph examinations lack scientific validity, but the public at large would condemn me of a crime I did not commit. With a good lawyer I might be able to stay out of prison and avoid a criminal record, but my reputation would be ruined, it would be nearly impossible for me to find suitable employment, and I'd live the rest of my life dwelling on this traumatic experience.

After finding this website I know with certainty that I will never apply for a job with a government agency, a law enforcement agency, or a defense contractor. I don't think I would have gone that far into the hiring process, anyway, but even if I passed all the initial rounds of interviews, there would still have been a good chance (assuming that what I've read on this site is correct) that I'd have failed the polygraph test. Even if I managed to pass the test I would first need to somehow defeat the interrogator by proving to him that his accusations against me are all false. I don't think that would be possible because by the time the interrogator begins the process of coercing the interviewee into making a confession the interviewee already failed the test and all the interrogator wants is to bolster his personal credentials by means of increasing the total number of confessions he has extracted.

I fantasize about scenarios where I am innocent, refuse to take a polygraph test, and all the people passing judgement conclude that my refusal to take the test means that I am not innocent. But my refusal to take the test could also mean that I don't want to risk ending up with a false positive result that will be impossible to refute. But since most people seem to lack the mental capacity to understand something as simple as that, it must be that I refused to take the test because I knew I was dishonest and couldn't have possibly passed the test. That conclusion would have been twice mistaken because, if I'm to believe what I've read on this site, it is possible to pass a lie detector test even if you are lying. But since I am not concerned about whether or not I can lie and pass a lie detector test, but rather, whether I can tell the truth and have the machine and the operator of the machine accurately assess the truthfulness of my answers, I content myself with entertaining only the hypothetical scenario where I challenge only the first part of their conclusion.

There is also the fantasy where I tell the truth, fail the polygraph test, the interrogator accuses me of dishonesty, and I file a defamation lawsuit against the interrogator and the agency responsible for carrying out the interrogation. My reputation is ruined, the case dismissed, and I could go on and on describing these fantasies but I think that's enough.

Does anyone else feel like this site is helping them losing their mind?

Lose My Mind,

I think it is a good idea that you never apply for a law enforcement position. You are too messed up in the head. Maybe you should try to write fantasy fiction instead.

lose my mind
may be yes may be no