Forum: Story Ideas

Human bullshit(lie) detector

bluerazz26 🚫

I remember reading a comic with a side character that could detect lies it was never expanded upon i always thought i would be a good idea because you cant always call people on their lies because people believe the people they choose to believe i always thought it would be interesting to see what situations you would want to shout out the truth but had no choice but to hold it in there is a few ways this power could work it could be a beep if the was a lie or everytime they lie the truth is written on them like a tatoo

Replies: awnlee jawking

Ernest Bywater 🚫

In the Clan Amir series a few of the people have what they call The Sight which allows them to detect when someone is lying, but it's a side aspects and not a major part of the story plots.

https://storiesonline.net/universe/891/clan-amir

Replies: bluerazz26

bluerazz26 🚫

@Ernest Bywater

Ill give it a try
I just thought it might interest people into writing something focused on that type of person because everyone wants the truth but sometimes ignorance is bliss i don't know how many times i had lay the truth on some friends about thier relationships and asked my self was it right to do that you know? So i feel it woulf make a comprling story

Replies: Dominions Son Ernest Bywater

Dominions Son 🚫

@bluerazz26

Might be interesting to do something along the lines of an inverse of Liar Liar, instead of the "victim" not being able to lie, no one else can lie in the "victim"'s presence.

Ernest Bywater 🚫

@bluerazz26

In the Clan Amir series the Truthsayers are a small group and only appear a few times in over 350,000 words of action stories, with one exception. Mostly they attend formal investigations and arbitrations by the local Clan leader to tell if someone is lying. The exception is the main character in most of the stories (Gordon 'Gerry' Mannheim) who is also an empath. Mostly it's his empathetic sense that's used, but there are a few scenes where he tells people he knows they're lying to him.

How you'd handle a story with someone who knows every time people lie, and how they get others to accept that, is a bit beyond my thoughts at this time.

Replies: jmay48

jmay48 🚫

@Ernest Bywater

Ernest, this is not a new phenomenon. See Casandra in Greek literature. Her gift was she could predict the future; her curse was no one would ever believe her.

I made the mistake once of referring to the "Casandra Effect" in a weekly networking group. Not only did no one get my point, but there was unfortunately a lady named Cassandra in the audience. Everyone wondered why I was picking on her :)

Replies: Vincent Berg

Vincent Berg 🚫

@jmay48

I made the mistake once of referring to the "Casandra Effect" in a weekly networking group. Not only did no one get my point, but there was unfortunately a lady named Cassandra in the audience. Everyone wondered why I was picking on her :)

With the reduction in "classic" education (i.e. Greek and Latin), tossing around unexplained Greek references is a recipe for disaster. This is no longer the 50s, where the classic European perspective applied to the entire 'civilized' world. Now you've got to be aware you're discussing topics with a world who might not share the same cultural backgrounds. Providing context for discussions is essential.

Not_a_ID 🚫

In Arlene and Jeff, most of the Alphas are basically human lie detectors.

ustourist 🚫

In the John Carter universe by Lazlo Zalezac, Ed Biggers is a human lie detector and it is an important aspect of the story under his name.

awnlee jawking 🚫

@bluerazz26

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LivingLieDetector lists a number of times this has been tackled, including a couple of TV series I'm vaguely familiar with in which the human lie detector is the principal premise.

AJ

Vincent Berg 🚫

In my "Catalyst" series, the main followers of the main character can detect lies because they can see certain aspects of people's personalities as 'colors'. The story closes by saying how they become famous in legal and medical fields because of their innate ability to detect undiagnosed diseases and detect fraud. In the final book, there's a subplot about a Saudi businessman who utilizes their abilities to arrange business deals.

I think Ernest is right, in that in most stories, the ability to discern lies is a sidelight of other more specific abilities. It's a handy story-telling device, but you've got to be careful about keeping its use fairly controlled within the story so it doesn't become an unregulated superpower.

Replies: Dominions Son

Dominions Son 🚫

@Vincent Berg

It's a handy story-telling device, but you've got to be careful about keeping its use fairly controlled within the story so it doesn't become an unregulated superpower.

You could position it as more of a curse than a useful ability.

Think about how difficult it might be for someone who always knows when someone is lying to them to form a romantic relationship. How easy do you think it would be to find a girl/boy friend/lover that never ever lies to you.

That's why I suggested the inverse Liar Liar scenario, you don't just know when people are lying, you get the unvarnished truth, which may not be pleasant to hear.

Replies: Vincent Berg

Vincent Berg 🚫

@Dominions Son

That's why I suggested the inverse Liar Liar scenario, you don't just know when people are lying, you get the unvarnished truth, which may not be pleasant to hear.

Or you go in the other direction, as I did in one telepathy story, where the main character is bothered by his ability to listen in on what others are thinking. He makes it a point to not invade others privacy for fear of what he'll unintentionally hear that they'd never say aloud. But the constant threat something like leak out, or that he'd weaken keeps the tension up.

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Forum: Story Ideas

Human bullshit(lie) detector

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