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The History of an American Obsession
Free Press
March 2007
On Sale: March 6, 2007
352 pages
ISBN: 0743259882
EAN: 9780743259880
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction History
The story of the lie detector takes us straight into the
dark recesses of the American soul. It also leads us on a
noir journey through some of the most storied episodes in
American history. That is because the device we take for
granted as an indicator of guilt or innocence actually tells
us more about our beliefs than about our deeds. The machine
does not measure deception so much as feelings of guilt or
shame. As Ken Alder reveals in his fascinating and
disturbing account, the history of the lie detector exposes
fundamental truths about our culture: why we long to know
the secret thoughts of our fellow citizens; why we believe
in popular science; and why America embraced the culture of
"truthiness." For centuries, people searched in vain for a way to unmask
liars, seeking clues in blushing cheeks, shifty eyes, and
curling toes...all the body's outward signs. But not until
the 1920s did a cop with a Ph.D. team up with an
entrepreneurial high school student from Berkeley,
California and claim to have invented a foolproof machine
that peered directly into the human heart. In a few short
years their polygraph had transformed police work, seized
headlines, solved sensational murders, and enthralled the
nation. In Chicago, the capital of American vice, the two
men wielded their device to clean up corruption, reform the
police, and probe the minds of infamous killers. Before long
the lie detector had become the nation's "mechanical
conscience," searching for honesty on Main Street, in
Hollywood, and even within Washington, D.C. Husbands and
wives tested each other's fidelity. Corporations tested
their employees' honesty. Movie studios and advertisers
tested their audiences' responses. Eventually, thousands of
government employees were tested for their loyalty and
"morals" -- for lack of which many lost their jobs. Yet the machine was flawed. It often was used to accuse the
wrong person. It could easily be beaten by those who knew
how. Repeatedly it has been applied as an instrument of
psychological torture, with the goal of extracting
confessions. And its creators paid a commensurate price. One
went mad trying to destroy the Frankenstein's monster he had
created. The other became consumed by mistrust: jealous of
his cheating wife, contemptuous of his former mentor, and
driven to an early death. The only happy man among the
machine's champions was the eccentric psychologist who went
on to achieve glory as the creator of Wonder Woman. Yet this deceptive device took America -- and only America
-- by storm. Today, the CIA still administers polygraphs to
its employees. Accused celebrities loudly trumpet its clean
bill of truth. And the U.S. government, as part of its new
"war on terror," is currently exploring forms of lie
detection that reach directly into the brain. Apparently,
America still dreams of a technology that will render human
beings transparent. The Lie Detectors is the entertaining and thought-provoking
story of that American obsession.
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