test or freedom

[test or freedom]

How can a test that is not accurate determine if someone should go to jail or not. This is the reason I am anti polygraph and support classes taught to beat the test. If I knew how to beat It, I would teach others. If I knew someone who taught the class I would take it or recommend it to the few people I know who freedom is depending one of these test.

[Ex Member]

Testy,

To be clear, only a judge can send somebody to prison. However, they are inclined to give weight to the testimony of treatment providers and probation officers, both of which ascribe to the idea of the polygraph being an accurate 24 hour tail.

By "beat the test", do you mean get away with a lie or to ensure you don't fall victim to a false positive?

As far as classes go, I would not expect to see any polygraph countermeasure academies opening soon as our government is not enamored by such a prospect.

[George W. Maschke]

How can a test that is not accurate determine if someone should go to jail or not.

It is deplorable that in some instances, courts of law in the United States have relied on polygraph chart readings in making sentencing decisions, despite the fact that polygraphy has no scientific basis.

I'm not aware of any school one can go to to learn polygraph countermeasures (though it's not unusual for psychology professors to address the topic in lectures). However, detailed information about how to pass or beat a polygraph test is available in The Lie Behind the Lie Detector, which is free for everyone to download and read.

[Wandersmann]

How can a test that is not accurate determine if someone should go to jail or not.

Next time you read about the Spanish Inquisition or the Salem Witch trials, remember that we still have the same tyrants running amok in 21st century America.  Humans haven't changed.  Ruining innocent people's lives for personal gain, power, and profit.  Most polygraph examiners are despicable, yet the agency heads who allow them to run amok are much more despicable. 

[Ex Member]

Next time you read about the Spanish Inquisition or the Salem Witch trials, remember that we still have the same tyrants running amok in 21st century America.  Humans haven't changed.  Ruining innocent people's lives for personal gain, power, and profit.

Your historical allusion may be more apt than you realize. Queen Isabela was very reluctant to expel the Jews from Spain after the fall of Granada because she was aware of their great contributions to Spain in areas of economics and various other disciplines. But, she relented after intense moral pressure from Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, resulting in the Alhambra Decree in March of 1492. Moreover, the Moors were a tolerant lot, excelling in medicine, mathematics and astronomy. Suppressing both of these talented peoples contributed to Spain's eventual fall from Grace. Is our national security at risk because of overly trusted modern day Cardinal Jiménez's?

[Wandersmann]

Your historical allusion may be more apt than you realize. Queen Isabela was very reluctant to expel the Jews from Spain after the fall of Granada because she was aware of their great contributions to Spain in areas of economics and various other disciplines. But, she relented after intense moral pressure from Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, resulting in the Alhambra Decree in March of 1492. Moreover, the Moors were a tolerant lot, excelling in medicine, mathematics and astronomy. Suppressing both of these talented peoples contributed to Spain's eventual fall from Grace. Is our national security at risk because of overly trusted modern day Cardinal Jiménez's? ?

Fascinating info and rhetorical question Ark !  Thanks.  It may be cliche, but it's true, "those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it". 

[Ex Member]

It may be cliche, but it's true, "those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it". 

It is actually a quote from George Santayana. A couple more:

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child."
"There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval."

[xenonman]

How can a test that is not accurate determine if someone should go to jail or not.

Next time you read about the Spanish Inquisition or the Salem Witch trials, remember that we still have the same tyrants running amok in 21st century America.  Humans haven't changed.  Ruining innocent people's lives for personal gain, power, and profit.  Most polygraph examiners are despicable, yet the agency heads who allow them to run amok are much more despicable. 

Exactly!

Just don't forget that the polygraph is little different, in concept, from the torture devices used by the Spanish inquisition, or the methods employed by the authorities prior to the notorious "show trials" in Moscow or Prague in order to secure those  bizarre "confessions"!.

[xenonman]

It may be cliche, but it's true, "those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it". 

It is actually a quote from George Santayana. A couple more:

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child."
"There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval."

Santayana's famous quote applies so well to the role of the US in Vietnam, so idiotically now being repeated in Afghaistan today!