Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

FBI File of Lie Detector's Creator

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the lasso-of-truth dept.

George Maschke writes, "It appears that the FBI considered William Moulton Marston (1893-1947), who invented the lie detector and created the comic book character Wonder Woman under the pseudonym Charles Moulton, to be a 'phony' and a 'crackpot.' He is alleged to have misrepresented the result of a study he conducted for the Gillette razor company in 1938, for which he reportedly received some $30,000, a handsome sum in those days. Despite these misgivings, the FBI today uses Marston's creation (the polygraph, not the Lasso of Truth) to guide investigations as well as to screen applicants and employees. You can download Marston's FBI file here (736 KB PDF)."

5 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Reciprocate by psykocrime · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's ok with me, as I happen to consider the FBI to be a bunch of phonies and crackpots themselves.

    --
    // TODO: Insert Cool Sig
  2. A way out? by BalorTFL · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is there any chance that this could be used in court cases to challenge polygraph test results? After all, if the FBI believes that the machine's inventer was a lunatic, couldn't it be argued that perhaps his so-called "lie detector" is inaccurate and inadmissable as evidence?

    1. Re:A way out? by fbjon · · Score: 2, Funny
      I took a polygraph as part of the interview process
      Did you sell it on eBay?
      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
  3. When 6 blades aren't enough by shamer · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now with lie detection !!!

  4. correct category? by fortinbras47 · · Score: 2, Funny
    Is this really your rights online?

    Is the FBI going to jump out of my cable modem and polygraph me?