Privacy lost as science pries into brain?

[beech trees]

The article is here. Fair use quote:

Work published last year by Dr. Daniel D. Langleben, assistant profess of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, indicated that certain areas of the brain show more activation when people lie. His group is now trying to see whether they can use the technique to produce an effective lie detector, one that would far outperform the deeply imperfect polygraph.

[Marty]

This brings up the interesting question of what the societal implications are were an actual lie detector that was highly accurate found. My guess is that there would be two types of people at this site:

1. People that have been adversely impacted by false positives and discovered the polygraph's flaws by personal experience.

2. People that fear the truth actually being found and take some comfort in the polygraph's inaccuracy.

What a dichotomy.

Beyond that, there is the residual question of a perfect or nearly perfect lie detector. As an instrument of the state it would revolutionize and increase state power incredibly. It has both positives and negatives and it is interesting to think about the full implications. Imagine various periods in the past and what would have occurred differently had such an instrument existed.

Brave new world.

-Marty

[Fair Chance]

Dear Marty,

I am not sure if I would be so brave in such a "scary new world."

Regards

[orolan]

Marty and Fair Chance,
I'm not so sure that the existence of a "perfect" lie detector would do any good. The government will ALWAYS see to it that technology is used to further its' own goals.
Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" is one of the 5 or 10 best books ever written (IMHO). Such forward thinking and insight is amazing, and the fact that many things he wrote about have come to past are astonishing. But like you say, Fair Chance, I'm not so sure if I'm brave, scared or just plain disgusted.