While some celebrate deceit, others worry that fibbing has become an insidious disease. In his recent book, The Post-Truth Era: Dishonesty and Deception in Contemporary Life, Ralph Keyes argues that the problem isn’t so much that people tell lies, it’s that they do so more casually and with greater impunity than in the past because deception is less vilified. Euphemisms like “misspeak,” “spin” and “shave the truth” are sanctioned by no less an authority than The Oxford English Dictionary. And don’t forget Donald Trump’s brassy expression “truthful hyperbole.”

Related to this, Keyes points out, is a vast growth in communication technologies that makes people both more aware of lying and increasingly convinced that everyone else is doing it: “Another reason we feel more surrounded by deception today is because we’re surrounded by so much more information.” The end result is that “even if the rate of dishonesty is the same as ever, the sheer number of lies seems greater.” Technology has also abetted casual liars by rendering individuals increasingly anonymous. As Keyes explains, in our over-crowded urban lives, deceit is easier to get away with: “We used to live very close together, in small communities where the consequence for telling lies was much greater.”

A more philosophical – and profane – view is expressed by Harry G. Frankfurt, the septuagenarian professor of philosophy emeritus at Princeton. Frankfurt wrote an essay, recently published by Princeton University Press, indelicately titled “On Bullshit.” In it, he describes the bullshitter as the bane of contemporary culture, not precisely the same as a liar but rather someone who doesn’t care about truth or falsehood, only in getting away with the ruse.

According to University of Toronto philosopher and cultural critic Mark Kingwell, a fan of Frankfurt’s essay, “It’s a looseness of thought and opinion, a lack of caring about whether something even is true. This can seem harmless: Who cares if most of what a baseball player says is self-serving nonsense? But the serious point is this sort of laxity weakens the norm of truth and demeans its role in our lives.”

How, then, do you sort the truth tellers from the fibbers? Identifying liars often stumps both international law enforcement authorities and scientists studying the field, so it’s unlikely the average person can spot them. Last year, social psychologist Charles Bond of Texas Christian University and a team of 90 scientists published a study on lying drawn from interviews with almost 5,000 people in 75 countries representing 43 languages. (Part of the goal was to gather international research that might help fight terrorism.) Bond discovered that a majority of people around the world – myself included – believe liars avert their gaze. But his study found that no research proves that looking away – or any other telltale sign of nervousness like blushing or stammering – consistently predicts lying.

Bella DePaulo argues that in her three decades of research, she has identified more than 100 cues – such as a higher vocal pitch, brief responses to difficult questions and stories that were too tidy and well packaged – that are often associated with lying. But, she cautions, “They’re more like hints. All these behaviours can also mean something else. If a person’s pitch goes up, they may be honestly excited. There’s no reliable liar’s behaviour; there’s no Pinocchio’s nose.”

Just as well for me because earlier today a man approached me soliciting funds for a local animal shelter. With the research for this article weighing heavily on my mind, I nonetheless averted my gaze and told him I’d be sure to return on my way back from the bank. 

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