by Kathie MM
Anyone who swears to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” is promising not to commit lies of commission (making ”bald-faced lies”), lies of omissions (leaving out critical facts), or lies of influence (making deceptive statements designed to influence the listener’s judgments regarding truthfulness rather than providing a truthful response). Fact-checking services can be useful for identifying lies of commission but are less likely to identify lies of omission and lies of influence—we’ll help you learn to recognize those forms of deception.
Spy the lie, by former CIA agents Houston, Floyd, and Carcinero, provides some useful examples of deceptive answers people provide when they don’t want to tell the truth. Here are some examples, illustrated by recent answers to human rights questions that officials seem reluctant to answer honestly:
1. A response that fails to answer the question—for example:
Question: “Are children still being separated from their parents at the U.S. border?”
Deceptive answer: “Our goal is always to reunify children and teenagers with a relative or appropriate sponsor.”
2. Minimizing the level of concern warranted by an issue—for example,
Question: “What about all the negative reports concerning how the migrant children are being treated?”
Deceptive answer: “With regard to family residential centers, the best way to describe them is more like a summer camp.”
3. Going into attack mode—for example:
Question: Can you account for the missing migrant children?
Deceptive answer: Unfortunately, some who ostensibly care about these children refuse to address why they are here: the loopholes in our immigration system. (emphasis added)
Your assignment: Watch for these forms of deception when viewing responses to challenging questions, while keeping in mind that honest people sometimes show one of these “symptoms of deception” without necessarily being liars. It’s the pattern, the repetition of deceptive statements, you want to watch out for.