Sometimes I "lie," but usually it is more in the way of a social lie, trying to spare someone's feelings. "Oh, yes, that dress looks lovely on you."

Sometimes I am lied to. Most people believe that they can tell when they are being lied to, but research suggests it is very difficult. In one study, jurors after a trial were confronted with defendants, some of whom told lies and some of whom told the truth, and the batting average was pretty low.

One of the problems is that people who lie a lot are very good at it. I mean, in order to get away with it, they would have to be, right? So they become pretty good at the con.

Sometimes even deceiving themselves in the end.

One of my professors was an expert in lie detector research and claims that lie detectors do a miserable job of ferreting out liars. People who rarely tell lies may sweat and develop a skippy pulse, etc., just because they feel under stress when wired up. The habitual liar will be cool, calm, and collected and can evade lie detection. He advised us to never voluntarily take a lie detector test bec. it could do more harm than good for us.