lie lie lie lie....
do not lie we shall.

The fine art of lying is older than the human race itself.
After all, many animals are quite skillful at lying.
Just think of hunting predators, hiding from their prey, pretending they're not there; and of their pray pretending they are not there either or playing dead when that might help.

For as long as there was lying, there were ways to detect deceit. Some effective, some ineffective, some gentle, some quite barbaric.
The eagerness to know for sure, to tell if someone is lying or telling the truth is understandable. Nobody likes to feel taken advantage of, fooled, cheated.

Nobody likes insults to their intelligence or the pain of heartbreak. So, is there a bulletproof sure-thing method to detect a lie?

I have two pieces of news for you - one is good and another one is bad.

Which one would you like to hear first?
Well, I'll start with the bad one.
There's no bulletproof method that would work in all situations with all people a 100% of time. Even the most sophisticated, technologically or scientifically advanced methods aren't foolproof. That's why the results of a lie-detector test are not admissible in a court of law. It's not a 100% accurate. Nothing is.

The good news is, though, there are very effective methods. How's a 90-95% accuracy sound to you? If you can tell lying from the truth 90 times out of a 100, wouldn't you call it a success?
There are several modern methods of detecting a lie:

- Intimidation.
Unfortunately, it's an old-as-the-world widely used method. Probably because it's such an easy one - no finesse required. The tactic of scaring an opponent in order to make them spill the beans is often used by individuals and organizations in a position of power over someone else. I am not a fan of this method, and if you're looking for tips on how to successfully intimidate someone into telling the truth, you came to the wrong place.

- Physiology.
When a person is lying, his/hers body goes through subtle changes that can be detected most of the time by a lie detector machine which measures a person's pulse, blood pressure, temperature, etc. Obviously, it's not very practical tactic for an everyday situation. You wouldn't drag you child, spouse, employee or a business partner to a lie detector specialist every time you suspect them of lying, would you? I am not even sure it's legal. Probably, not.
There're also people who claim they can tell if someone is lying simply by observing the changes in their skin tone, frequency of breezing, pupil contraction, etc.. Personally, I have my doubts about accuracy of such an observation, but it's up to you to judge.

- Behavioral changes:
body language, facial expressions, changes in voice and speech pattern, general behavior. There're many methods based on observation of behavioral changes.

- Investigation.
Sure, in your quest for truth you can hire a private detective if you have money to spare or pressing enough need. Or you can do some investigation yourself. Somehow it always worked for Sherlock Holmes and Miss Maple. But if you remember neither Holmes nor Miss Maple spent most of their investigation time running around hunting for clues. Instead, they often used their kin observation and deduction skills to cut through all the lies and get to the truth.

In certain situations some basic investigation is not only appropriate - it's a requirement of a common sense. For example, when hiring a nanny for your child or investing your life savings, you'd want to make sure that people whom you entrusted really deserve it, that they are not lying and misrepresenting themselves, their skills and their character.

As for me, I prefer paying attention to people over any other method. If you simply pay attention and know what to look for, rather sooner than later people will tell you pretty much everything you need to know without even realizing it.

So, how to tell if someone is lying to you? Use one or several of the methods listed above (hopefully, not the intimidation, though) and you'll get to the truth. But can you handle it?

reference:
http://ezinearticles.com/

-marcia-