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Skepticism, Censorship And The Polygraph

Posted by timothy on from the ask-a-good-wife-beating-question dept.

George W. Maschke writes "Paul M. Menges, the federal polygraph examiner who teaches the countermeasure course at the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute, has written an article in the American Polygraph Association's quarterly journal, Polygraph, in which he calls for the criminalization of public speech about polygraph countermeasures (methods for passing or beating a polygraph examination). His proposal would ban books like AntiPolygraph.org's popular free e-book, The Lie Behind the Lie Detector. I have written a formal response to Mr. Menges' commentary."

4 of 45 comments (clear)

  1. What's next? by ClosedSource · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Criminalization of speech debunking tarot cards, psychic phenomenon, tea reading and other practices in the same category as the polygraph?

  2. The Alan Ralsky solution... by sleepingsquirrel · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I'm not really up on the *science* of polygraph, but I've read the The Lie Behind the Lie Detector and it seems pretty damning. The basic premise of the book is that a polygraph interview is really just an interrorgation; all of the equipment is mostly just a ruse to intimidate the subject into telling the truth. Lately I've been wondering what could be done to educate the poor low-level schmucks at the FBI/CIA on this issue (i.e. those employees required to submit to polygraphs on a regular basis). The best I could come up with is engaging the Slashdot-Ralsky protocol. Everyone heads down to the local Kinko's and makes a copy (or three) of the book, and then sends it off to a likely FBI/CIA employee. The copyright notice on the book states that it is free for noncomericial purposes, which I think would cover this situation. The only problem of course is to identify likely CIA/FBI employees. The easist thing would be to start picking random addresses in the suburbs of D.C. (say within a 30-40 minute commute to known FBI office buildings) in the hopes of reaching the FBI employees or their friends and families (and this is assuming that FBI employment data isn't public domain). Of course, random addresses might not be the most efficient, I'm sure someone out there might have a better idea. Maybe we could pick random address, but exclude those we know are employed elswhere (hey, this is kinda like Total Information Awareness in reverse).

    It seems like the powers-that-be might not be happy if they knew that a not insignificant portion of their workfore was _aware_ of polygraph countermeasures and "the lie behind the lie detector". Then they might have to admit that polygraph testing is a fraud (or maybe they'd just dismiss us as those "nutty internet kooks").

    Anyway, I'd like to see your comments/suggestions on this.

  3. Useful Polygraph Info by Incongruity · · Score: 2, Interesting
    There's a lot of pseudo-science out there, especially with regards to the polygraph and other lie-detection methods, so becareful about what you trust.

    One excellent and scientifically trustworthy source for polygraph information is from a committee put together by the National Academy of Sciences to study the scientific validity of the polygraph and related lie-detection methodologies, both in the lab and out in the real world. If you want to read the report, you can find it online through the NAS's publishing website.

    Another excellent work on the uses and abuses of the polygraph is a book by David Lykken called "A Tremor in the Blood". Lykken is a well respected researcher in the field of physiological detection of deception, and has spent a lot of time trying to bring to light the troubling science behind the polygraph.

  4. Too hard... by sleepingsquirrel · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Print up copies of the book -- or summarize the basic points on a smaller handout -- and hand them out at FBI, at DoJ, and make them available in the usual places like lefty bookstores and so forth.
    That solution requires a lot of work. You need round up highly motivated individuals to take time off of work, spend money flying into D.C. and stand around hasseling honest people, trying to convince them you're not a nut. My solution requires almost no work (File->Print on your browser, or a trip to the local print shop) and minimal expense ($10 worth of paper per copy?) Because of its distributed nature (thousands of people spread throughout the country) it would be hard to quell, and provide little backlash risk for any single participant.
    If they've got a curriculum in polygraph countermeasures, you can be pretty certain they know they exist, don't you think?
    The point is not that *some* of the higher up people know, but if *everyone* in the FBI was aware of how to defeat a polygraph, then there would be little point in administering them, right?