The Truth About Lying

"Don't trust your impressions," Ekman says of trying to detect concealed emotions. "They'll probably be wrong based on stereotype. Judging by demeanor is very difficult to do." One of the easiest ways to see beyond impressions is to learn to catch micro-expressions, which betray emotions, he says. "If you see a sign of fear on someone's face -- particularly if it's concealed -- then you'll go up and ask a few questions." Inquiring may lead to a caught lie and eventually the truth.

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("If [a man] keeps his tongue still, his hands, his feet, his eyes, his attitude, will convey deception -- and purposely," Twain wrote in his essay.)

Earlier this month, about 20 Washingtonians paid $55 to learn about lying. They hunkered down in a basement classroom on Massachusetts Avenue for a two-part class called "The Truth About Lying: Detecting Deception." One person was there because she suspected her boyfriend was cheating on her. Another wanted to learn how to match wits with friends who are interrogators for the Defense Department. Another recently discovered that his wife of 20 years is a compulsive liar, and he wants to arm himself with detective skills for future social interactions.

The class, which is offered occasionally through Professionals in the City, is taught by the Lyin' Tamer.

Rawr.

This is Janine Driver, a former stand-up comedian and federal law enforcement investigator who blended those two life experiences to make herself into a body language guru. She frequently pops up on "Rachael Ray" and the "Today" show to demonstrate her ability to "read" people.

"The number one thing is to norm them, calibrate them," Driver explains. "What is their normal behavior, and when do they deviate from that? I'm so manic and I talk with my hands, so if all of a sudden you ask me about my marriage and I change my behavior -- now I have my hands in my pockets, my tone of voice goes down -- it doesn't mean I'm lying, but it's a point of interest."

Of all the body language classes she teaches, Driver says, the one on detecting deception is the least attended. People don't seem to want to know the truth, she says.

Getting away with lies seems less easy to do these days. There are e-mail trails and cellphone videos and rabid cable news networks with a nose for hypocrisy and double talk. There are video montages on YouTube of Cabinet-level officials blatantly contradicting themselves.

Still, this doesn't mean a golden age of truth telling is at hand.

"The same phenomenon that's making our words stick around can be used by people to lie even more," says Feldman, of U-Mass. "You can go into a chat room and be anyone you want and make up a whole identity for yourself."

So the way we observe, catch and perpetrate lies has changed over the past 50 years, but the consequences of being caught have not. Choosing to lie is often a serious gamble with integrity.

"A big cost of lying is people won't be able to trust you again," says Ekman, the psychologist. Everyone knows what it takes to lie, but "nobody knows the ability it takes to reestablish trust. You can't work with someone, let alone live with someone, if you don't trust them."