THE TRUTH AND THE LIE Definitions: Truth (noun): conformity to fact or actuality; a statement proven to be or accepted as true.

. Lie (noun): 1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood. 2. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression. Lie, lied, lied, lying (verb, intransitive): 1. To present false information with the intention of deceiving: He lied to me. 2. To convey a false image or impression: Appearances often lie. Lie, lied, lied, lying (verb, transitive): 1. To cause to be in a specific condition or affect in a specific way by telling falsehoods: You have lied yourself into trouble. It is necessary to avoid the confusion between the following verbs: lie, lied, lied, lying lie, lay, lain, lying = to be in a flat, horizontal position lay, laid, laid, laying = to cause to lie down Synonyms: truth, veracity, verity, verisimilitude . These nouns refer to the quality of being in accord with fact or reality. Truth is a comprehensive term that in all of its nuances implies accuracy and honesty: Every man is fully satisfied that there is such a thing as truth, or he would not ask any questions (Charles S. Peirce). We seek the truth, and will endure the consequences (Charles Seymour). Veracity is adherence to the truth: Veracity is the heart of morality (Thomas H. Huxley). Verity often applies to an enduring or repeatedly demonstrated truth: beliefs that were accepted as eternal verities (James Harvey Robinson). Verisimilitude is the quality of having the appearance of truth or reality: merely corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative (W.S. Gilbert). Synonyms: lie, equivocate, fib, palter, prevaricate . The central meaning shared by these verbs is to evade or depart from the truth: lie: a witness who lied under oath; equivocate: she didn't equivocate about her real purpose in coming (she didnt use equivocal language); fib: the child fibbed to escape being scolded (he used an insignificant, childish, lie); palter: paltering with an irate customer(talking or acting insincerely or misleadingly); prevaricate: he didn't prevaricate but answered forthrightly and honestly(he didnt evade the truth). Types of truths: Axiom (noun): 1. A self-evident or universally recognized truth; a maxim. 2. An established rule, principle, or law. 3. A self-evident principle or one that is accepted as true without proof as the basis for argument; a postulate. Law (noun): 1. a. A formulation describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met - e.g.:

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the law of gravity; b. A generalization based on consistent experience or results e.g.: the law of supply and demand. 2. Mathematics: a general principle or rule that is assumed or that has been proven to hold between expressions. Maxim (noun): a succinct formulation of a fundamental principle, general truth, or rule of conduct e.g.: Knowledge is the antidote to fear. R.Emerson Postulate (noun): 1. Something assumed without proof as being self-evident or generally accepted, especially when used as a basis for an argument: the postulate that there is little moral difference between the superpowers (Henry A. Kissinger). 2. A fundamental element; a basic principle. 3. Mathematics: an axiom - e.g.: postulates of Euclidian geometry. Principle (noun): 1. A basic truth, law, or assumption: the principles of democracy. 2. a. A rule or standard, especially of good behavior: a man of principle; b. The collectivity of moral or ethical standards or judgments: a decision based on principle rather than expediency. Theorem (noun): 1. An idea that is demonstrably true or is assumed to be so. 2. Mathematics: a proposition that has been or is to be proved on the basis of explicit assumptions. Truism (noun): a self-evident truth.

Types of lies: Deliberate lies and unintentional lies (triggered by ignorance or by believing someones lies). Harmless lies; devastating lies. Lying by omission and lying by telling and showing. White lies (noun): a trivial, harmless, or well-intentioned untruth. Calumny (noun): false or malicious statement designed to injure a reputation; slander, defamation. Slander (noun): defamation, calumny; defamation by oral utterance rather than by writing, pictures, etc. Defamation (noun): act of defaming, esp. unjustified injury to anothers reputation, as by slander or libel. Libel (noun): defamation by written or printed words, pictures, etc., rather than by spoken words. Liars: common liars, professional liars (artists, politicians) and pathological ones (individuals who show no body responses when giving false answers). Social contexts and lying: At home and in nonprofessional environments; At work: the teacher-student situation; the doctor-patient relationship ( telling the truth to terminal patients; the Munchausen syndrome; malingering patients; hypochondriacs); the applicant and the selection board; During police interrogations and court hearings; During confessions; In printed documents: plagiarism; modifications of results in scientific papers; In the media: advertising and articles; radio and TV programs.

Methods that could contribute to the detection of liars: The interpretation of facial expressions (Paul Ekman): the 44 muscles that generate facial expressions are also responsible for the appearance of microexpressions, lasting less than a second, which can be linked to instances of lying (for example the lines on the forehead); the analysis of microexpressions can be also performed by computers programmed to recognize visual images. Brain fingerprinting (Larry Farwell - University of Iowa): using an EEG device, the brain waves can be shown to produce a type of graph when the subject recognizes a piece of information and a different configuration when the subject is not acquainted with the data presented to him; the method was already used in order to test the prisoners who claim to be innocent of the crimes they were convicted for; a U.S court accepted this type of evidence. The lie detector (or polygraph): an instrument that monitors and records bodily changes taking place in an individual during questioning; these changes, such as blood pressure, pulse rate, breathing rate, and the flow of electrical current between two different parts of the body, called the psychogalvanic skin reflex, reflect the emotional condition experienced by a person answering questions put by an operator; the data are evaluated in attempts to determine whether or not the subject is lying; the technique is used in police investigation since 1924; the validity of this procedure remains controversial and it is not always accepted as evidence in a court of law; the method was used by employers to screen job applicants and to investigate employee theft until use by private employers was outlawed in U.S. in December 1988. Hypnosis: during the 1970s police departments began experimenting with hypnosis as a means of interviewing witnesses; it has proved effective in getting witnesses to give accurate descriptions of criminals, of events immediately preceding accidents, and details of violent sexual attacks. Truth serum: a hypnotic or anesthetic drug, such as scopolamine or thiopental sodium, used to induce a subject under questioning to talk without inhibition. Alcohol testing and drivers suspected of being under the influence of alcohol: the development of a breath analyzer, or breathalizer, has given police a valuable tool for determining blood-alcohol content immediately without the delay for laboratory analysis; the suspect's breath passes through a solution of potassium dichromate and sulfuric acid, resulting in a color-density change proportional to the amount of alcohol in the sample; from this percentage the blood-alcohol content can be calculated; such drug tests, however, are only preliminary; definitive testing must be done at a crime laboratory as a backup.

The media and peoples capacity to detect lies: TV and radio programs, and articles from newspapers containing false data were presented to a group of subjects; the result of the experiment: lies were detected in 50% of the occurrences by the TV viewers; 72% of the readers were able to spot the untruth and over 80% of the listeners identified the false information in the radio broadcasts they monitored. Categories that avoid the classification in the truth-lie group: hypothesis, assumption, conjecture, supposition.

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Literary references: Tartuffe by Moliere; The Truthful Liar/Le Menteur Veridique ) by Eugene Scribe (1823); The Adventures of Pinocchio: Story of a Puppet/Le Avventure di Pinocchio: Storia di un Burattino by Carlo Collody.