Larry King Now Season 1 Episode 102 Why We Lie

Larry King Now season 1 episode 102 explores the reason behind the human tendency to lie. In this intriguing episode, Larry King invites experts to uncover the psychology and science of lying.

The episode starts with King welcoming his first guest, Pamela Meyer, a renowned author and expert on deception. Meyer explains that humans are hardwired to lie from a young age, and it's a survival mechanism that helps us navigate through complex social situations. However, the question arises, why do some people lie more than others, and how do we detect these lies?

To delve deeper into this subject, King presents his next guest, Dr. David Matsumoto, professor of Psychology at San Francisco State University. Dr. Matsumoto has extensively researched facial expressions and body language to detect deception. He explains to King how body language can tell a lot about a person's intent, and how these nonverbal clues can help us detect lies better.

The conversation then drifts towards the cultural aspect of lying. Dr. Matsumoto talks about how different cultures perceive lying. Some cultures, like Japan, have a more indirect communication style. Meanwhile, in the west, we have a more direct communication style, leading to more lying instances.

The next guest on the show is Alissa Quart, author of "Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theories and Their Surprising Rise to Power." Quart, in her book, explores how the rise of conspiracy theories has led to a culture of lies. She tells King how these conspiracy theories have become more mainstream and how they've caused real harm on a societal level.

Throughout the episode, King takes a deep dive into the science and psychology of lying. From the evolutionary perspective of deception to the ways we can train our minds to detect lies, this episode is a riveting exploration into why we lie.

The final guest on the show is a polygraph expert, who explains how the lie-detector test works. He tells the audience how the polygraph acts as a tool to measure physiological changes that occur when we tell a lie. However, he also points out that it's not the most reliable means of detecting deception.

In conclusion, the episode is an engaging conversation that forces us to confront our own biases and perceptions of deception. It calls for more honesty and transparency in our personal and societal lives, and it's a must-watch for anyone who wishes to better understand the art of deception.