The Myth of Lies - Meg Mickelsen

Has anyone ever told you that it is difficult to keep track of a complex lies?    Is that not how the term "tangled web of lies" came about?   One lie multiplies into many complex lies and it takes so much effort to keep track of all these falsities, that eventually the result will be a tangled mess of confusion and accusation.  New evidence suggests differently.  It is possible that the more complex and difficult the lie, the better one remembers it and can keep up continuity.  The article that suggests this, I found on Science Daily.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130904205111.htm  It states that there are two main categories to lying, false descriptions(claiming that something happened when in reality it did not) and false denials(claiming that something did not happen when in reality it did).  False descriptions require the brain to make up many details and if the liar sees that the listener is not buying it, the liar must then change the story to make it appear more believable.   This takes an amazing amount of cognitive effort, thus the memory stores the event as important.  False denials are more likely to be short and concise and the event takes less effort.  One is significantly less likely to remember these types of lies. This new evidence is incredible important in interrogations.  The police are more likely to catch a criminal contradicting him or herself on a false denial.  But, here is where it gets interesting.  A completely innocent person will often forget whether a denial is truthful or false.  As the situation and question are repeated throughout the interrogation they become familiar to the innocent person and can actually appear to truthful to them.  The person will often begin to imagine what the situation was like and then begin to blur the lines between imagination and reality.  Thus an interrogator must constantly be aware of false memory when repeating questions.  I found this article fascinating.  Better understanding the human brain is almost always of use to technology and society and each new breakthrough is thrilling to me.  Remember next time you lie, the more complex, the better!