The perils of science discovering a way to spot lies – leader comment

Researchers at Stirling University have been testing a way to reveal whether someone is lying that involves tracking their eye movements.

In a world without lies, politics would be, well, let's just say different (Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

A similar system is used by police in Japan while questioning suspects and it can apparently show if someone is telling the truth or not when they say they don’t know a particular individual, say a crime boss, on being presented with a photograph.

Lie detectors have been around for a while, but the traditional versions appear to be of limited use.

However, just suppose scientists did, sometime in the future, develop the perfect system and lie detectors became a standard gadget, an app on our smartphones or a piece of software connected directly into our brains.

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We’d never be able to lie again. No more fraud, no more dodgy deals or over-priced repair bills.

But then again, there’d be no more small fibs designed to spare someone’s feelings, no chance to escape that awkward social event you’d really rather not go to...

Suddenly, ‘the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth’ is starting to sound like a bit of a nightmare.