Good morning Pailryder,
Firstly, please allow me to apologize. I did not mean to imply that all polygraph examiners are hate filled. I have only met one hateful polygraph examiner in person, but I have met many others who are friendly and polite with a professional demeanor, and even the one rude one might only have truly thought I was a big liar and a child molester (this was in a post conviction test). The truth is that i have never molested children, but i was super afraid of the polygraph test, especially after wrongfully failing it once before. I was so nervous I was shaking and so full of dread, thinking that I was screwed. I displayed many of the typical liar behaviors that are identified in the polygraph examiner's handbook, plus I insisted that I don't believe in the process and got a bum deal from my last polygraph exam. Maybe I did have a physiological response to the questions that asked if I had been having sexual thoughts about children or hanging around with them unchaperoned, but I knew that what he was insinuating was a very bad thing and I was offended and angry that someone would try to pin those behaviors on me when I have been so good and tried so hard to comply with every aspect of the sex offender's program. I know you think that OSS 3 looks scientific, but I think you are confusing technologically complicated with scientific.
The fact is I have been declared a liar twice due to polygraph tests, but I have never lied during a polygraph test. The way something gets to be called science is that someone makes a hypothesis and then tests that hypothesis. If after many experiments the hypothesis holds up, then it becomes a respected theory. A theory gets stronger and people are more confident the more experiments that are done testing it, but it only takes one experiment to disprove a theory. If a theory is ever disproved, then it no longer gets to be considered scientifically true. That's how science works.
Even if you don't believe my claims of being falsely branded a liar due to polygraph exams (and the hundreds of other people including the guy that started the antipolygraph.org website), then you can just think about that challenge that they organization put up to the polygraph examiners of the world. They offered to have a scientific experiment to see if polygraph examiners could tell if people were using countermeasures, but no one has taken them up on it. If it were really a scientific test they wouldn't be afraid to test their theory that it detects lies reliably. An untested scientific belief can not be called a theory. It is just an opinion.
You may know many good decent polygraph examiners, but I bet I have more friends who have taken polygraph tests. I have several good friends who are in prison today because they were unable to pass a polygraph exam during a sex offender program. They were in compliance with all aspects of the program and doing what they were told, but they failed the polygraph and got locked up. How do I know they were telling the truth? Because they are my friends and I know, but I can't prove it. It's just an uncomfortable fact of life that you can not prove if someone is lying or telling the truth. You may have a strong feeling, but you can never know.
I agree that the polygraph works as an interrogation tool. If the victim believes that the machine is going to be able to detect his lies, then he is going to want to get everything off his chest. I personally made a long list, admitting to totally insignificant stuff like showering at the YMCA and mowing my yard with my shirt off, trying to rid myself of every tiny possibility that I could have been had sexual motivations. It kind of screwed me over, because I truly was not sexually motivated to do those things, but they included in my record (which could be used in court against me) of my admissions of sexually acting out dozens of times, when my actual crime was a one time thing that I never did before or since. Thanks to my fear of the polygraph I admitted irrelevant stuff that hurts me to this day, but I still failed it twice.
I have no problem with witchcraft and I bet I know more practicing Wiccans than you do. They all know that the key to making magic work is believing in it. If you believe that the polygraph works, then you spill your guts and tell the truth. In that regard the procedure works, but telling the truth is not guarantee of passing the test. If you go into a polygraph exam intending to trust in the ability of the polygraph examiner to tell if you are telling the truth, you are really a chump. I was a chump - it doesn't feel very good.
The answer, both for liars who want to get away with it and for truthful people who want to make sure they don't get a false result from the exam is the same. You read "The Lie Behind the Lie Detector" and learn how to augment your responses to control questions, control your breathing and have the right appearance and attitude. For me personally, when I went to my polygraph after reading the book and preparing, i felt so confident for a change. Finally I did not feel like a powerless victim. The polygraph lost it's mystery to me and I wasn't afraid of it anymore, and I passed with flying colors.
To Kol: Sorry, I didn't recognize you at first. I think your little picture thing changed. If you are still doing research and trying to buy a polygraph machine that means you are still nervous. Relax buddy and focus on preparing for the test by reading the "Lie Behind the Lie Detector." Meditate once a day, learning to count your breaths and choose a happy, soothing thought that you will use during your test (I used petting my dog), and practice having that thought while controlling your breaths. When you get into the test and he asks you a relevant question, you will just continue breathing the pattern and mentally petting your dog and your body will not give a physiological response. Also you augment your responses to the control questions, and that makes them look bigger than the relevant questions. It's not hard if you study up and get prepared.
Stay cool guys, Chuck
PS By the way Pailryder, Quickfix is admittedly a polygraph examiner and if you read his history you will see that he is very hate filled. He hates the people who don't believe in the polygraph so much that he wants their children to be raped. He is the specific person I was describing when I said hateful, not all polygraph examiners.
|