so
PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
to control their brain patterns. In fact, proponents point out that in an
age of increased awareness of terrorism this technology could save
countless lives by detecting a terrorist attack on the United States.
While conceding this technology's apparent success rate in detecting lies, critics have pointed out that the fMRI does not actually detect
lies, only increased brain activity when someone is telling a lie. The
machine could create false results if, for example, a person were to tell
the truth while in a state of great anxiety. The fMRI would detect only
the anxiety felt by the subject and incorrectly reveal that he was telling
a lie. "There is an incredible hunger to have tests to separate truth
from deception, science be damned," warns neurobiologist Steven Hyman of Harvard University.
Some critics also claim that a true lie detector, like a true telepath,
could make ordinary social interactions quite uncomfortable, since a
certain amount of lying is a "social grease" that helps to keep the
wheels of society moving. Our reputation might be ruined, for example, if all the compliments we paid our bosses, superiors, spouses,
lovers, and colleagues were exposed as lies. A true lie detector, in fact,
could also expose all our family secrets, hidden emotions, repressed
desires, and secret plans. As science columnist David Jones has said, a
true lie detector is "like the atom bomb, it is best reserved as a sort of
ultimate weapon. If widely deployed outside the courtroom, it would
make social life quite impossible."
UNIVERSAL TRANSLATOR
Some have rightfully criticized brain scans because, for all their spectacular photographs of the thinking brain, they are simply too crude to
measure isolated, individual thoughts. Millions of neurons probably
fire at once when we perform the simplest mental task, and the fMRI
detects this activity only as a blob on a screen. One psychologist compared brain scans to attending a boisterous football game and trying to
listen to the person sitting next to you. The sounds of that person are
drowned out by the noise of thousands of spectators. For example, the
PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
to control their brain patterns. In fact, proponents point out that in an
age of increased awareness of terrorism this technology could save
countless lives by detecting a terrorist attack on the United States.
While conceding this technology's apparent success rate in detecting lies, critics have pointed out that the fMRI does not actually detect
lies, only increased brain activity when someone is telling a lie. The
machine could create false results if, for example, a person were to tell
the truth while in a state of great anxiety. The fMRI would detect only
the anxiety felt by the subject and incorrectly reveal that he was telling
a lie. "There is an incredible hunger to have tests to separate truth
from deception, science be damned," warns neurobiologist Steven Hyman of Harvard University.
Some critics also claim that a true lie detector, like a true telepath,
could make ordinary social interactions quite uncomfortable, since a
certain amount of lying is a "social grease" that helps to keep the
wheels of society moving. Our reputation might be ruined, for example, if all the compliments we paid our bosses, superiors, spouses,
lovers, and colleagues were exposed as lies. A true lie detector, in fact,
could also expose all our family secrets, hidden emotions, repressed
desires, and secret plans. As science columnist David Jones has said, a
true lie detector is "like the atom bomb, it is best reserved as a sort of
ultimate weapon. If widely deployed outside the courtroom, it would
make social life quite impossible."
UNIVERSAL TRANSLATOR
Some have rightfully criticized brain scans because, for all their spectacular photographs of the thinking brain, they are simply too crude to
measure isolated, individual thoughts. Millions of neurons probably
fire at once when we perform the simplest mental task, and the fMRI
detects this activity only as a blob on a screen. One psychologist compared brain scans to attending a boisterous football game and trying to
listen to the person sitting next to you. The sounds of that person are
drowned out by the noise of thousands of spectators. For example, the