365 Things to do in Worcester County – learn to read people at Assabet in Marlborough
This morning I spend three and a half hours with Dr. William Morrissette at Assabet Valley Center for continuing education. Dr. Morrissette is a forensic psychophysiologist who for many years worked for the CIA. His specialty: identifying people who have something to hide. You know the show “lie to me”? Well, that’s him. I don’t mean the actor, Tim Roth. I’m talking about the profession of determining whether or not the person you are speaking with is telling the truth.
Dr. Morrissette made a good point when he explained that people believe that lying has a negative connotation. But he explained that sometimes we lie to protect someone. So the definition he left us with is more like “Lying is the degree to which someone is willing to reveal their true selves, thoughts, emotions and experience.” What was very interesting is that he added that if someone is lying it is your fault in that you have failed to create an environment of comfort for them. And accepting fault places you in a position of control. Deep isn’t it?
The class was riveting and the time seemed to fly by. I just want to share some interesting statistics, I think you might enjoy:
93% of human communication is nonverbal
3.5% is the words we speak
3.5% is the hidden messages in the words
Also,
The average person determines deception with no better than 50% accuracy.
I was told that with practice and the class I just took I can get up to 65%
The best in the forensic business, using polygraph have a an accuracy of up to 92%.
So right now there is no 100% full proof method of determining if someone is deceptive. But don’t worry, there are studies on p300 brain waves that can increase these percentages. You too, will be amazed by the information you will get when you make this, one of your 365 Things to do in Worcester County – learn to read people at Assabet in Marlborough
P.S. Marlborough is actually in Middlesex county, but this was such an awesome experience, I wanted to share with everyone, that I bent my own rules. After all, they are mine, you know.
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