The Truth Game
by Martin Lewis
Originally published in TIME.com
on October 17, 2000

Wow what a debate! The lies... the fear... the stress.... And most of all the lies. That whopper that Bush told about Texas health care. The fib Gore told about Tipper hitting the ceiling over rock lyrics.

How can I be so sure? Well because I have been watching the entire debate with my TV set strapped up to a sophisticated lie detector test. This little program - called The Truster - analyzes the voice stress patterns of the voices it hears. It instantly dissects the hesitations and waverings as the candidates speak and lets us know what’s going on behind their fine words.

As a consequence I have spent the past 90 minutes watching two screens simultaneously and taking copious notes. Before I write a full detailed report - I intend to play back the entire debate through this software and test it carefully. If you’re planning to call someone who may become President of the United States (and thus has a hotline to the Fresno IRS office) a flagrant liar - it behooves one to check the polygraph results carefully.

But - fear of a vicious tax audit notwithstanding - my unflinching final analysis will be posted on Time.com’s Campaign 2000 pages on Wednesday.

However - not wanting to be a tease - I will give some sneak previews of the results. The Lie Detector Test equivalent of a snap poll.

Prisoner A was consistently under stress and frequently caught lying. The computer kept blaring “Inaccuracy” It did all but grow a Pinocchio nose on the man. Prisoner B was highly stressed at times - but he drew a lot of “Truth” verdicts.

All clear? It will be tomorrow.

(All suggestions of a tax defense lawyer welcome.)


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