This is the only book I have ever read that began by fascinating me completely and ended by reducing me to teeth-clenching agonies of boredom.The reasons are as follows.For the first hundred pages, at least, Pamela Mayer remembers her unwritten contract with the reader and limits herself to the topic indicated on the front of the book. After a fascinating thumbnail sketch of the psychoevolutionary aspects of deception, and a brief history of the research into its detection in humans, the reader is presented with a sort of curio cabinent of tics and tells that indicate that one is being deceived. The tells, or “indicators,” are divided by Mayer into three broad categories (facial expressions, body language and speech patterns) and supplemented with both a concise psychological explanation and practical advice on identification and interpretation.It’s interesting stuff. And even the most scatterbrained reader, like myself, will come away with something. He may recall, for example, that contrary to the popular belief that liars won’t look you in the eye, some particularly-Machiavellian liars may actually increase eye contact while lying to you, for which reason an increased blink rate is a much more reliable indication of deception. He will be able to claim acquaintance with microexpressions, Duchenne smiles, and the consideration that should be given to speech disfluencies and chronological narrative structure when the veracity of someone’s presentation of events is in question. He will marvel for the rest of his life at Paul Ekman’s calculation, based on a combinatorial analysis of the forty three muscles of the human face, that we are capable of a whopping 10,000 expressions, three thousand of which are emotionally interpretable.By the time I turned to part two, Mayer had won my trust and attention. Unfortunately, my enjoyment was about to come to a grinding halt. Suddenly and inexplicably proceeding on the assumption that her reader is the CEO of a corporation, she presents for his instruction various managerial tactics that can be employed to reduce deception in the workplace and foster trust. One exhilarating and rather lengthy section stipulates the provisos that should be included in a contract before a corporate merger. Another offers four or five pages of bullet points on preparing for corporate negotiations. Bravely forging on, we confront a prolix guide to forming a board of trusted associates to guide us in making executive decisions, a guide precisely as boring as a board meeting.At this point, the reader who cannot claim the honor of being a cut-throat business magnate may find their attention wandering to other subjects, such as, “I wonder if the jumping ceremony of Maasai tribesman is meant to imitate the pronking of springbok?” or “What on Earth does any of this have to do with deception detection?” A quick visit to Mayer's website will do nothing to diminish your exasperation, since the “Deception Audits” (consultation services) energetically recommended throughout this section of the book are the same services hawked, for a price, by her website. And so, among the other defects of part two, we must include that of perpetrating a rather underhanded and (in view of the contents of the book) rather ironically deceptive plug.If you haven’t yet read Liespotting, but you are reading my review, it is safe to assume that you have an interest in the subject and would like to determine whether you should buy this book. My answer is that yes, you should, with the following prescription:You Will Need1. A copy of this book2. A box-cutter3. A fireplace4. A comfortable chair5. A glass of wineStep 1Using the box-cutter, slice this book down the middle of the spine, separating part one and twoStep 2Using the pages of part two as fuel, kindle a nice crackling woodfireStep 3Ease yourself into the comfortable chair with part oneStep 4Sip your wine, and enjoy the fascinating text in your hands, trusting that you have saved yourself a private, two-hour hell of boredom. What an interesting read! I have always felt I was an intuitive, empathetic person. I honestly thought this would be a rehash of concepts I already knew, but it definitely had some fascinating things to say, not just about lying, but about the way we communicate in general. Not being in the business world, I naturally skimmed a few sections that felt specific to it, but the majority of the book was not just helpful, but a quick read.If you're torn, the author's TEDTalk (Pamela Meyer: How to Spot a Liar) is a really good preview of what you will be reading.
What do You think about Liespotting: Proven Techniques To Detect Deception (2010)?
Para todos los lectores interesados en este tipo de temas, es muy sugerente.
—Murphyslaw0619
Very interesting research, good examples, & a quick read!
—TheCdKnight
The Ted Talk was great...the book was a little drawn out.
—ellishop
