Events History

2 Feb : Lie detection not reliable even after 8 decades of its existence

Detecting if someone is lying or not is a fantasy. But we actually have a machine for the same. It is used for crime cases but it’s reliability is under scanner till date. History has gifted us with something impossible, so let’s thank them who made it possible.

Lie detection can never be 100%. Not even with a lie detector machine.
Even Leonarde Keeler, the inventor of Lie detector machine, himself said that the machine is not foolproof and that his very first test was also 75% accurate.

Today in 1935, a Lie Detector machine was used for the first time to bring a conviction in a US court. Keeler used the lie detector on two criminals in Portage, Wisconsin, who were later convicted of assault when the lie detector results were introduced in court.
The first machine was named after its inventor – “Keeler Polygraph”.


As the name suggests a lie detector could help identify whether someone is telling the truth. Although, after all advancements in the field, polygraph tests are still considered by many to be unreliable forms of evidence. It works on blood pressure, pulse rate, heart beat and skin conductivity of the person being interrogated. Eight decades later it’s still up to the examiner to ask effective questions and to interpret the output accurately. Thus, they are not admissible in court. They are not performed in courtroom during criminal cases.

In 1924, Keeler’s first handmade polygraph instrument, which he called "the Emotograph," was destroyed in a fire at his residence. 

#Hindi 
1935 में आज Leonarde Keeler ने पहली बार अपने आविष्कार polygraph machine का test किया था। इसे lie detector machine भी कहा जाता है। Blood pressure, pulse, सांस लेने की गति, और skin conductivity जैसे पैमानों को record कर के झूठ पकड़ने वाली इस मशीन को कई देशों में interrogation tool के तौर पर इस्तेमाल किया जाता है। हालांकि आठ दशकों बाद, आज भी इसे पूरी तरह से विश्वसनीय नहीं माना जाता है। ज़्यादातर जगहों पर झूठ पकड़ने वाली मशीन के आधार पर सज़ा नहीं सुनाई जाती है। इसे सिर्फ एक सबूत के तौर पर पेश किया जाता है। लेकिन इसके इस्तेमाल से छानबीन में और केस की दिशा तय करने में मदद ज़रूर मिलती है।

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