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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bawylie" data-source="post: 7583044" data-attributes="member: 6776133">I was an investigator for 12 years and now I supervise a team of investigators. Civil/insurance fraud, generally, sometimes criminal. Our ability to “detect” lies is no better or more reliable than a coin toss. The very best of us are right 55% of the time. We know when people are lying after we compare statements given to other records and witness accounts. I’ve never once used “sweat on the upper lip” or “touching their face” or “not making eye contact” to determine the veracity of anything. I have seen anger, nervousness, calmness, and other demeanors in the course of interviews and trials. I have seen people stare wide-eyed at their lawyer after every question, before answering, hoping for some direction. What does that tell you? I’ve seen people get enraged over questions about their dog’s injuries and not care at all if they’re accused of lying about their own. What does that tell you? I’ve seen people sincerely testify to things that are outright wrong or insane - but they believe them to be true. What does that tell you? In my opinion, insight isn’t a lie detector. In my games, I try to use it as an opportunity to fill-in-the-blank or perhaps add two-and-two. A flash of insight might be something like “NPC is adamant in their position, animated and louder than a conversation between two people should be. It’s almost performative. But who is the intended audience?”  Or maybe “They show clear signs of inebriation, the exaggerated signs of inebriation you see when sober people are mimicking drunkenness.”Or “they’re uninterested/bored with the conversation.” Anyway, just my 2 cents on it. Insight gives something, sometimes something useful, sometimes something interesting, but it’s on you to do something with it. It doesn’t detect lies or truth. Unless you want it to, then heck go wild. But even those of us whose job it is to determine lies and truth don’t get it from cold-reading.</blockquote>

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