The language of lying — Noah Zandan

說謊的語言 — 諾雅‧藍丹

譯者: 韻庭 顏 審譯者: yi lee

"Sorry, my phone died."

"抱歉,我手機壞了"

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

"沒事,我很好"

"These allegations are completely unfounded."

"你說的話都不會傳出去"

"The company was not aware of any wrongdoing."

"公司不會察覺你的不當行為"

"我愛你"

"I love you."

We hear anywhere from 10 to 200 lies a day,

我們一天中接收到上百句謊言

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

也花很多心思研發測謊方法

from medieval torture devices to polygraphs,

從中世紀的刑具到現今的測謊器

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

電子血壓呼吸計和音頻測量器

eye trackers, infrared brain scanners,

眼球跟蹤器、紅外腦部掃描機

and even the 400-pound electroencephalogram.

甚至 400 磅的腦電波儀

But although such tools have worked under certain circumstances,

但是每種儀器都有使用限制

most can be fooled with enough preparation,

只要做足準備就能騙過他們

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

因此法院仍不採信測謊工具

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

但如果問題不在技術

but the underlying assumption that lying spurs physiological changes?

而是謊言引起的生理轉變

What if we took a more direct approach,

如果我們直接

using communication science to analyze the lies themselves?

以語言學的角度分析謊言呢？

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

在心理層面，我們傾向優化自我

connecting our fantasies to the person we wish we were

將崇拜的人投射在自己身上

rather than the person we are.

而不是原來的自己

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

但當我們在做白日夢時 許多訊號悄悄顯現

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

我們只能有意識的 控制 5% 的認知功能

including communication,

包括溝通語言

while the other 95% occurs beyond our awareness,

另外 95% 的資訊則是潛意識

and according to the literature on reality monitoring,

從文獻中的現實觀察法顯示

stories based on imagined experiences

根據幻想所編造的故事

are qualitatively different from those based on real experiences.

實質上和現實有很大的差異

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

捏造自己的故事需要時間

and results in a different pattern of language use.

也需要不同的語言形式

A technology known as linguistic text analysis

語言分析技術

has helped to identify four such common patterns

歸納出四種

in the subconscious language of deception.

謊言潛意識的語言特徵

第一，說謊者刻意忽略自己

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

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

將焦點放在他人身上

to distance and disassociate themselves from their lie,

自己則抽離謊言本身

which sounds more false:

聽起來有此地無銀三百兩的感覺

"Absolutely no party took place at this house,"

"絕對沒有在這房子辦任何派對"

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

"我沒有在這辦派對"

Second, liars tend to be more negative,

第二，說謊者通常比較負面

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

他們潛意識裡對謊言感到愧疚

For example, a liar might say something like,

例如，說謊者可能說

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

"抱歉，我的爛手機電池壞了，我恨它"

Third, liars typically explain events in simple terms

第三，說謊者傾向簡化事情

since our brains struggle to build a complex lie.

因為他們集中腦力編造謊言

Judgment and evaluation

對事情的判斷與評價

are complex things for our brains to compute.

對大腦而言非常複雜

As a U.S. President once famously insisted:

就像有一次美國總統公開宣稱

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

"我和那個女人沒有性關係"

And finally, even though liars keep descriptions simple,

最後一點，雖然說謊者用語直白

they tend to use longer and more convoluted sentence structure,

卻常常拐彎抹角

inserting unnecessary words

嵌入沒有意義的字句

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

和看似合理的瑣碎詞語襯托謊言

Another President confronted with a scandal proclaimed:

另一總統對醜聞做出這樣的回應

"I can say, categorically, that this investigation indicates

"我敢保證，這次的調查會證實

that no one on the White House staff,

在白宮上班的所有員工

no one in this administration presently employed

所有現任的公務員

was involved in this very bizarre incident."

都絕對沒有涉入這起荒謬的醜聞"

Let's apply linguistic analysis to some famous examples.

語音分析還有其他著名的例子

Take seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

七次環法自行車賽冠軍 藍斯・阿姆斯壯

When comparing a 2005 interview,

在2005年的訪問中

in which he had denied taking performance-enhancing drugs

他否認服用禁藥

to a 2013 interview, in which he admitted it,

相較於2013年，他承認服藥

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

前次聲明中的代名詞數多了許多

Note the contrast between the following two quotes.

比較以下兩句引言

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

「有一個巴黎實驗室稽查員

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

叫甚麼佛朗西來著 取你的樣本來測試

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

然後報社就打給你說：

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

我們發現你血球生成素呈陽性」

Second: "I lost myself in all of that.

以及：「我淪陷了

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

我相信其他人也會不自覺沉迷

but I certainly couldn't handle it,

我不自覺沉淪了

and I was used to controlling everything in my life.

以前我是自己的主人

I controlled every outcome in my life."

可以決定我人生中每一件事」

In his denial, Armstrong described a hypothetical situation

阿姆斯壯在否認聲明中 創造一個假設情境

focused on someone else,

將焦點放在其他人身上

removing himself from the situation entirely.

自己則完全抽離該聲明

In his admission, he owns his statements,

但在他的告白中，主角是自己

delving into his personal emotions and motivations.

表達自己的強烈個人情感和動機

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

但人稱代名詞只是其中一種線索

Let's look at another example from former Senator

再來看一個例子，前參議員

and U.S. Presidential candidate John Edwards:

美國總統候選人約翰・愛德華:

「我認為直系父親的定義

"I only know that the apparent father has said publicly

that he is the father of the baby.

為該男士公開承認 與嬰兒的血緣關係

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

我個人從未表示

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

被要求以及同意給予該女士 任何形式的金源支助

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

以及承認自己為該嬰孩的 直系父親」

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

除了用冗長的句子說明 「小孩不是我的」

but Edwards never calls the other parties by name,

愛德華也沒有直呼當事者的姓名

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

只用了"嬰兒"，"那位女士" 和"直系父親"來代替

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

以下是他承認父女關係的聲明

"I am Quinn's father.

「我是金妮的爸爸

I will do everything in my power to provide her

我會盡我所能的給她

with the love and support she deserves."

愛與支持」

他的自白既簡短又直接

The statement is short and direct,

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

直呼小孩的名字 顯示彼此關係親密

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

這些技巧如何運用到生活中呢?

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

首先，日常生活中聽到的謊言

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

都較稀鬆平常且大多無害

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

但還是可注意不欲人知的小細節

like minimal self-references, negative language,

刻意忽略自己以及負面的用詞

simple explanations and convoluted phrasing.

簡化的思考和冗詞贅字

It just might help you avoid an overvalued stock,

或許你就不會上假債券的當

an ineffective product, or even a terrible relationship.

或被無用產品甚至感情圈套欺騙