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I'm not saying that I agree with the OP, but aren't "rules" like this really heuristics? Psychological tricks like this, if they're effective (and joking aside

by rfrey 16y ago

I'm not saying that I agree with the OP, but aren't "rules" like this really heuristics? Psychological tricks like this, if they're effective (and joking aside, I really have no opinion on their efficacy), would be useful in situations where you wonder if the other person is lying. That is, they're clues when you're already on the alert. If you're talking collaboratively to someone about the cause of a server crash, or engaged in a friendly conversation about a movie, you're not on guard. If you were a manager talking to two employees about a sexual harassment allegation, though, you might want all the tools you could muster.

rfrey 16y ago
Although, as I wrote about the OP's tells not being applicable to friendly conversation I realized that the most egregious liar I've ever known was my best drinking buddy in college. The more beer he drank, the more outrageous (and hilarious) his tales would get. But he always telegraphed when he had stepped firmly onto terra fantasia with the phrase "Guys... without a WORD of a LIE I was on the bus last week when this doberman pincer came on..." etc. We never called him on it though, because we were afraid he would stop.