The language of lying — Noah Zandan

Jezik laži - Noah Zandan

Translator: Mateja Peršolja Reviewer: Matej Divjak

"Oprosti, telefon mi ni delal."

"Sorry, my phone died."

"Nič ni. V redu sem."

"It's nothing. I'm fine."

"These allegations are completely unfounded."

"Te obtožbe so popolnoma neutemeljene."

"The company was not aware of any wrongdoing."

"Podjetje ni bilo seznanjeno z napačnim ravnanjem."

"I love you."

"Ljubim te."

We hear anywhere from 10 to 200 lies a day,

Na dan slišimo nekje med 10 in 200 laži

and we spent much of our history coming up with ways to detect them,

in že od nekdaj poskušamo ugotoviti, kako jih odkriti.

from medieval torture devices to polygraphs,

Od srednjeveških mučilnih naprav do detektorjev laži,

blood-pressure and breathing monitors, voice-stress analyzers,

krvnega tlaka in opazovanja dihanja, analize stresa v glasu,

eye trackers, infrared brain scanners,

opazovanja oči, infrardečega skeniranja možganov

and even the 400-pound electroencephalogram.

in celo skoraj 200 kg težkega elektroencefalograma.

But although such tools have worked under certain circumstances,

Ampak čeprav so takšna orodja delovala v določenih okoliščinah,

most can be fooled with enough preparation,

večino lahko prelisičimo, če se dovolj pripravimo na to

in nobena izmed njih ni dovolj zanesljiva, da bi bila primerna za sodišče.

and none are considered reliable enough to even be admissible in court.

Ampak, kaj če problem ni v tehnikah,

But, what if the problem is not with the techniques,

but the underlying assumption that lying spurs physiological changes?

temveč v osnovni predpostavki, da laganje povzroči fiziološke spremembe?

Kaj če se s tem spopademo bolj neposredno

What if we took a more direct approach,

in s pomočjo znanosti o komunikaciji analiziramo laži same?

using communication science to analyze the lies themselves?

Na psihološki ravni lažemo zato, da se predstavimo v boljši luči,

On a psychological level, we lie partly to paint a better picture of ourselves,

connecting our fantasies to the person we wish we were

svoje fantazije povezujemo z osebo, kakršna si želimo biti

rather than the person we are.

in ne, kakršna smo v resnici.

But while our brain is busy dreaming, it's letting plenty of signals slip by.

Medtem ko naši možgani sanjarijo, pa nas izdajajo s številnimi signali.

Our conscious mind only controls about 5% of our cognitive function,

Naša zavest lahko nadzira le okrog 5 % miselnih sposobnosti,

including communication,

vključno s sporazumevanjem,

while the other 95% occurs beyond our awareness,

medtem ko ostalih 95 % deluje, ne da bi se tega zavedali

and according to the literature on reality monitoring,

in glede na knjige, ki govorijo o opazovanju realnosti,

stories based on imagined experiences

so zgodbe, ki temeljijo na izmišljenih izkušnjah,

are qualitatively different from those based on real experiences.

po kakovosti drugačne od tistih, ki temeljijo na resničnih izkušnjah.

To pomeni, da oblikovanje lažne zgodbe o osebni zadevi, zahteva delo

This suggests that creating a false story about a personal topic takes work

and results in a different pattern of language use.

in posledično pride do drugačnih vzorcev sporazumevanja.

A technology known as linguistic text analysis

Tehnologija, poznana kot jezikoslovna analiza besedila,

has helped to identify four such common patterns

je pomagala pri določanju štirih takih pogostih vzorcev,

in the subconscious language of deception.

ki se nezavedno pojavljajo v jeziku laži.

Kot prvo, pri lažnih izjavah osebe, ki lažejo, manj omenjajo sebe.

First, liars reference themselves less, when making deceptive statements.

They write or talk more about others, often using the third person

Več pišejo oziroma govorijo o drugih, pogosto uporabljajo tretjo osebo,

to distance and disassociate themselves from their lie,

da se oddaljijo in zanikajo, da so vpleteni v laži.

which sounds more false:

Kaj zveni bolj neiskreno:

"Absolutely no party took place at this house,"

"Prav nobene zabave ni bilo v tej hiši,"

or "I didn't host a party here."

ali "Nisem priredil zabave"?

Kot drugo, lažnivci so običajno bolj negativni,

Second, liars tend to be more negative,

because on a subconscious level, they feel guilty about lying.

saj se podzavestno počutijo krive, ker lažejo.

For example, a liar might say something like,

Na primer, lažnivec bo morda povedal to:

"Sorry, my stupid phone battery died. I hate that thing."

"Oprosti, te neumne baterije za telefon je zmanjkalo. Sovražim to stvar."

Third, liars typically explain events in simple terms

Tretje, lažnivci navadno opisujejo dogodke s preprostimi besedami,

since our brains struggle to build a complex lie.

saj se možgani trudijo, da oblikujejo zapleteno laž.

Judgment and evaluation

Kritika in presoja sta zapleteni stvari, ki ju morajo možgani razvozlati.

are complex things for our brains to compute.

Kot je predsednik ZDA nekoč slavno trdil:

As a U.S. President once famously insisted:

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

"S to osebo nisem imel spolnih odnosov."

And finally, even though liars keep descriptions simple,

In nazadnje, čeprav so opisi lažnivcev preprosti,

they tend to use longer and more convoluted sentence structure,

se navadno poslužujejo zapletenejših stavčnih struktur,

vstavljajo nepotrebne besede

inserting unnecessary words

and irrelevant but factual sounding details in order to pad the lie.

in nepomembne detajle, ki pa zvenijo kot dejstva, da zakrijejo laž.

Another President confronted with a scandal proclaimed:

Nek drug predsednik je, soočen s škandalom, izjavil:

"I can say, categorically, that this investigation indicates

"Zatrdno lahko rečem, da ta preiskava nakazuje na to,

that no one on the White House staff,

da nihče od zaposlenih v Beli hiši,

no one in this administration presently employed

nihče, ki trenutno deluje v tej vladi,

was involved in this very bizarre incident."

ni sodeloval pri tem zelo bizarnem incidentu."

Let's apply linguistic analysis to some famous examples.

Jezikoslovno analizirajmo nekatere znane primere.

Poglejmo sedemkratnega zmagovalca dirke po Franciji, Armstronga.

Take seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

When comparing a 2005 interview,

Če primerjamo intervju iz leta 2005,

in which he had denied taking performance-enhancing drugs

v katerem je zanikal uživanje drog za boljšo zmogljivost,

to a 2013 interview, in which he admitted it,

z intervjujem iz leta 2013, ko je to priznal,

se je osebnih zaimkov posluževal v skoraj 3/4 primerih več.

his use of personal pronouns increased by nearly 3/4.

Opazujte razliko med naslednjima dvema citatoma.

Note the contrast between the following two quotes.

First: "Okay, you know, a guy in a French, in a Parisian laboratory

Prvi: "OK, saj veste, fant v francoskem, pariškem laboratoriju

opens up your sample, you know, Jean-Francis so-and-so, and he tests it.

odpre vaš vzorec, saj veste, Jean-Francis tako in tako in ga preizkusi.

And then you get a phone call from a newspaper that says:

In potem te pokličejo s časopisa, kjer pravijo:

'We found you to be positive six times for EPO."

'Odkrili smo, da so šestkrat našli doping v vaši krvi."

Drugi: "Izgubil sem se pri vsem tem.

Second: "I lost myself in all of that.

I'm sure there would be other people that couldn't handle it,

Prepričan sem, da obstajajo tudi drugi, ki so se vdali,

but I certainly couldn't handle it,

jaz sem se zagotovo vdal

and I was used to controlling everything in my life.

in bil sem navajen, da imam vse v življenju pod nadzorom.

I controlled every outcome in my life."

Pod nadzorom sem imel vsak razplet v svojem življenju."

In his denial, Armstrong described a hypothetical situation

Ko je zanikal, je Armstrong opisal hipotetično situacijo,

focused on someone else,

osredotočil se je na nekoga drugega,

removing himself from the situation entirely.

sebe pa popolnoma odstranil iz situacije.

Ko prizna, je on osrednja oseba izjav,

In his admission, he owns his statements,

delving into his personal emotions and motivations.

razkriva svoja lastna čustva in razloge.

But the use of personal pronouns is just one indicator of deception.

Ampak uporaba osebnih zaimkov je le en pokazatelj laži.

Let's look at another example from former Senator

Poglejmo primer nekdanjega senatorja

and U.S. Presidential candidate John Edwards:

in predsedniškega kandidata ZDA Johna Edwardsa:

"Vem samo, da je domnevni oče javno izjavil,

"I only know that the apparent father has said publicly

that he is the father of the baby.

da je on oče otroka.

I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description

Poleg tega nisem sodeloval pri nobenem opisanem dejanju,

that requested, agreed to, or supported payments of any kind

ki bi zahtevalo, privolilo ali podpiralo kakršnokoli plačilo

to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby."

ženski ali domnevnemu očetu otroka."

Not only is that a pretty long-winded way to say, "The baby isn't mine,"

Ne samo da je precej po ovinkih povedal, da otrok ni njegov,

but Edwards never calls the other parties by name,

Edwards tudi nikoli ne imenuje otroka, niti ostalih oseb,

instead saying "that baby," "the woman," and "the apparent father."

namesto tega pravi "otrok," "ženska" in "domnevni oče."

Now let's see what he had to say when later admitting paternity:

Poglejmo, kaj je povedal, ko je kasneje priznal očetovstvo:

"I am Quinn's father.

"Sem Quinnin oče.

I will do everything in my power to provide her

Storil bom vse, kar lahko, da ji bom zagotovil

with the love and support she deserves."

ljubezen in podporo, ki si ju zasluži."

Izjava je kratka in neposredna,

The statement is short and direct,

calling the child by name and addressing his role in her life.

uporabi otrokovo ime in omeni svojo vlogo v njenem življenju.

So how can you apply these lie-spotting techniques to your life?

Kako vam lahko pomagajo te metode za prepoznavanje laži?

First, remember that many of the lies we encounter on a daily basis

Kot prvo, zapomnite si, da veliko laži, ki smo jim vsak dan priča,

are far less serious that these examples, and may even be harmless.

niso tako hude kot v teh primerih in morda celo niso škodljive.

But it's still worthwhile to be aware of telltale clues,

Vseeno pa koristi, da ste pozorni na znake, ki izdajajo,

like minimal self-references, negative language,

kot je manj pogosto omenjanje sebe, negativnost,

simple explanations and convoluted phrasing.

preproste razlage in zapleteno izražanje.

It just might help you avoid an overvalued stock,

Morda se boste tako izognili delnicam, ki niso toliko vredne,

an ineffective product, or even a terrible relationship.

neuporabnemu izdelku ali celo obupnemu odnosu.