Re:Why Lie Detector Tests Can’t Be Trusted
by geomark on Monday July 29, 2019 @09:41PM
(#20561325)
Very similar to my experience, but different 3-letter agency. Two rounds. Lots of questions about drug use. I wasn't shy about it because I had had legal run-ins over it when I was young so I knew it was already out there. But examiner claimed that I was being evasive. My employer really wanted me cleared so I was coached a bit, told that unless I admit to being a spy it almost doesn't matter what I admit I have done, as long as I am truthful. I was invited back for a second polygraph. Lots more questions about drugs, some really bizarre things I had never heard of. I thought WTF, and just "admitted" to most everything the examiner asked me. He still said I was being evasive. I thought, this is stupid, it doesn't work at all, he's just guessing.
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At this point, I assume the point of the process isn't to ferret out liars, but to ferret out people who were trained to pass a polygraph under stress, on the theory that such people are more likely to be spies. It's the only thing that makes sense given the scientific unreliability, the random unfounded accusations by interviewers and whatnot.
But maybe I'm being to generous.