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The Truth And What Is A Lie?

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In life you will come across many obstacles, some of these you may have caused, others you may have not. How do we determine which is which? How do we determine what is the truth and what is a lie? In 1917, William M. Marston would say the polygraph test or lie detector as it is often called. In the twenty-first century, it would probably be witnesses and physical evidence. Which is more accurate and efficient? Is it fair to determine a person 's life sentence just by asking a few questions regarding whether or not they are lying? In this modern day, we not only need to focus on the “victims” but the “criminals” as well. Not saying that we should cater to criminals, but give them a chance. The old saying goes that a defendant is innocent …show more content…

You go into the police station and have to take a polygraph test. You are nervous, so you fail the test and they sentence you for this crime, you know for a fact you didn’t commit. Just because of the anxiety, you failed and now are in prison for a crime that you did not commit. Is this morally right to determine a person 's future if it is not one hundred percent accurate? Authorities should prohibit the use of a polygraph test to determine a criminal 's punishment for a few main reasons. Polygraph tests are simply not reliable enough to determine a person 's punishment that can be life changing. There are quite a few things that make a polygraph test tick and not all of them are as reliable as they may seem. There are a few different factors that come into play when someone is taking a lie detector test. “William M. Marston invented the first lie detector in 1917,” (Hammiett, 2016 p.1). His attentions were great, and he thought that it would be accurate and efficient with no problems. “However, in 1923, the D.C. Court of Appeals stated that there was not enough scientific evidence to support Matson’s lie detector machine,” (Hammiett, 2016 p.1). If there wasn’t enough evidence, then what makes us think that there is now? It is the same as it has always been and if the D.C. Court of Appeals says that there isn’t enough scientific evidence to support it, then we shouldn 't use something that is

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