The TED talk “The Future of Lying” by Jeff Hancock is engaging and insightful information on human communication particularly on the lilt lies humans make. The most surprising fact provided by the speaker is the revelation that humans lie at least once or twice on any particular day. What’s even more surprising is the fact that, as much as lying is considered a vice, people most people lie to protect their relationships with others. However, the speaker is optimistic that with the help of technology we would be able to discern and differentiate between what is real and fake information from people.
The speaker gives valuable information regarding the evolution of human communication from traditional means to technological means that include emailing texting, and social media communication. According to the speaker, traditional methods used to detect if a person is lying are not as reliable as previously thought. He argues that lie detection techniques including pupil dilation or tonal variations are not reliable methods of detecting if a person is lying on telling the truth. This is because there are people who have mastered the art of lying without showing any of those signs. Apart from that, the speaker believes in the role of new technology in ascertaining real and fake information. However, one thing that did not make sense to me is how written words could be used to detect fake or real information.
If asked to give a TED talk, I would talk about the common causes why people lie and why it is difficult to eliminate lying in our communication. While many speakers concentrate on this subject, little attention is given to understanding the various motivations that cause people to lie in particular circumstances.