lies - the irrepressible truth

* the lack of capital letters in this article is intentional

WHY DO PEOPLE LIE?

[according to Forbes, there are three main reasons that cause people to lie. these are • because they fear the consequences of telling the truth (to protect yourself) • these consequences are often negative, so they fear what may happen. • they want people to believe something about them that isn ’t true (to promote yourself • the world can be a very judging and hypocritical place, and sometimes in order to fit in, we feel the need to lie • to avoid hurting someone ’ s feelings (to protect others) • these lies are often simple and reflexes because of human nature]. according to national geographic, one may also lie to impact others, for example with the intent of being malicious. avoidance- 14% personal transgression- 22% • personal gain- 15% • economic advantage-16%• unknown- 7% • pathological- 2% • malicious- 4% • social/impolite- 2% • altruistic- 5%• humour- 5% • self-impression- 8% •

WHAT IS A LIE?

[an intentionally false statement] • [NOUN] • [lʌɪ] [of a thing; to present false impression] • [VERB] • [] [of germanic origin] • [old english; lyge] • [] [NB: lies may have varying consequences, so proceed with caution]

HOW TO TELL THE TRUTH FROM A LIE . . . . . [difficulty: hard]

lying and deception are common human traits. people most commonly lie about small, everyday things. sometimes to protect people and other times to protect themselves.... but how easy is it to tell when someone is lying?

[some tell tales]

[being vague/offering few details] • [repeating questions before answering them] • [speaking in fragments] • [failing to provide specific details when challenged] • [grooming behaviours] • [vocal uncertainty] • [indifference] some things such as grooming behaviours (like a tendency to run their hand through their hair) will only be recognisable over time as you get to know the person in question. however, things like vocal uncertainty- the voice wavering or being more insecure, may help to tell if someone is lying or telling the truth.

it is important to realise that behavioural signs can sometimes be misleading. people tend to link not making eye contact with dishonesty and lying; however, as researcher Howard Ehrlichman found out, this can actually signify them recalling things from their long-term memory.

[tip]

[ask them to tell their story in reverse. since lying is more mentally challenging than telling the truth, by increasing the cognitive complexity, it makes them more likely to slip up]

[what is pathological lying?]

otherwise known as mythomania, there is discourse over whether it is a psychological disorder or not. however, it is certain that compulsive lying is a symptom of other mental health conditions such as antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, psychopathy, and other histrionic personality disorders. excluding psychosis, people who lie compulsively are aware that their accounts are lies, not distanced from reality, but they can often be an effect of a person ’ s environment. especially if they have been a subject to low self-esteem or trauma, as it can be used as a coping mechanism. histrionic • [h ɪstrɪ ˈ ɒnɪk] [excessively dramatic or theatrical in style] • [ADJ] [melodramatic behaviour designed to attract attention] • [NOUN]

usually, these lies will paint the person telling them as someone to gain sympathy, admiration, or acceptance from others, with very convincingly spun stories.

[pathological vs white lies]

while they may seem similar in the way that they are often harmless, it is the reasoning behind these two types of lies that differentiate them: 1. morality – to spare feelings 2. choice – the situation, avoiding hurting people 3. harmless vs hurtful? one of these would be dependent on the morality of the person telling them. you could argue that white lies are mostly told to save/spare the feelings of someone else, therefore that’ s why they are called ‘ white ’ (or harmless) lies, however pathological lying would be completely for the advantage of oneself. although they may be selfish, pathological lies might not be harmful, as they are usually fake scenarios or situations designed to make someone look good, meaning that if it was figured out that it’ s a lie, it may stop. it would technically have no effect on other people than perhaps their opinions of the one person telling the lies, which would of course be their own fault.

[white lies]

morality varies from person to person, so not all white lies can be classified into a category as inherently good, because they would depend on what the person telling them believes is best, with hurting the minimal amount of people dependent on the situation. many things could affect the reason as to why a lie is told, and whether it could be called a white lie or not, some of these things being what it' s about and why it’ s told; white lies are usually about unimportant things to avoid hurting the feelings of another person. however, what could be an unimportant lie, might have been a harmful truth, so, even though lies are supposed to be bad, would that mean that white lies are ok to tell because they could be better for the feelings of someone currently rather than in the long term? white lies are the moral dilemma of choosing to tell someone something that could hurt their feelings and being responsible for that or letting them live with it and having the possibility that they could be hurt by it again later.

paleomammalian prefrontal cortex temporal lobe EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN

[anatomy and parts involved] when lying, a few parts of the brain are stimulated: • the paleomammalian cortex (also known as the limbic system) stimulates guilt, anxiety, you name it • the temporal lobe paints the lie in your head and retrieves past experiences• prefrontal cortex responsible for conquering the truth.

[the amygdala] amygdala• [ə ˈ mɪɡdələ] • [a roughly almond-shaped mass of grey matter inside each cerebral hemisphere, involved with the experiencing of emotions] • [NOUN] • [LATE MIDDLE ENGLISH] • [via LATIN FROM GREEK: amugdalē ‘ almond’] the amygdala is a small part of the paleomammalian system responsible for stimulating emotions. research has shown that lying does in fact have a rather substantial effect on it. researchers from UCL and Duke University found out that when a lie is told, the amygdala adapts. they found out that the more a lie is told, the less activity occurs in the amygdala. therefore, it becomes easier to tell a lie if you lie frequently. as a result, the number of lies told per day also increases, causing a repeating cycle, a snowball effect. like with stimuli such as loud noises, the brain has the capability to adapt to make the stimuli less intense. this is the case with the amygdala, but adaptation desensitises us.

[behind-the-scenes] through an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), the activity of the brain can be seen whilst lying. to find the parts responsible for deceit, in 2001, the neuroscientist, Sean Spence and his team at the University of Sheffield, instructed participants to answer a series of questions about their daily routine whilst being scanned. By pressing a button on a screen, they responded to the questions. thanks to previous interviews, the scientists knew the correct responses. in terms of the results, as perhaps expected, it took longer for the participants to construct a false response than to answer truthfully. certain areas of the prefrontal cortex had a higher supply of blood flowing inside them- they were more active. this highlighted the part the prefrontal cortex as being mainly responsible. however, this experiment did not give much of an insight into what was going on inside... in 2009, Joshua Greene, a psychologist at Harvard University, conducted an experiment to solve this issue. how do you encourage someone to lie? by adding monetary motive... Greene asked participants, lying in an fMRI scanner to predict the result of a virtual coin-toss. for a correct prediction, they received up to $7 but if they guessed wrong, they lost money. for half of the tosses, the participants were asked to submit their predictions before the event. for the second half, they only had to reveal whether they had guessed correctly. if you were wondering, yes, they still got paid even if they lied. to separate the facts from fiction, Greene looked at their success rates. the honest participants answered correctly around 50% of the time, conversely, the dishonest subjects answered correctly around 75% of the time. interestingly, some of the liars admitted to cheating after the study concluded. by analysing the data Greene found that there was no increase in activity in the prefrontal cortex when being honest but there was when lying. the lying subjects displayed an increase in activity in the control regions of the prefrontal cortex. this suggested that the cheaters might have been contemplating whether to lie. psychologist, Ahmed Karim of the University of Tübingen, Germany, used transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS). tDCS is a method in which electrodes are placed on the scalp and send a weak current to hit a brain area. unfortunately, a conclusion could not be made from the experiment. it was not clear if electrically stimulating selected parts of the brain would work outside a lab. currently, there is not the right equipment. what we do know however, is that the main part of the brain which is stimulated whilst lying is the prefrontal cortex.

By beth, mala and bez

The Power Behind Atoms: Fission and Fusion

Nuclear Energy, Power, and Weapons is one of the most controversial topics of the modern world. It is an area of Physics that is incredibly useful and could (in theory) solve many of the world’ s problems. However, since its inception, the use of nuclear concepts has been one of the most controversial issues, leading to many major crises. The use of these concepts could cause the next mass extinction.

The physics

Atoms are the basis of all matter in the universe. They consist of three particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and neutrons are held in the centre, the nucleus, and the electrons orbit the nucleus. Atoms have a miniscule, inconceivable size. They also have very strong forces of attraction between the sub-atomic particles. Relative to their unimaginably small size, this energy is enormous. If it could be utilised, it could revolutionise the way the world works. There are two ways this energy is obtained and utilised –Fission and Fusion. Fission works by splitting atoms. It uses a stray neutron, which is fired at either an atom of Plutonium-239, but more often an atom of Uraniam235. The Uranium splits, releasing energy. The now free Uranium neutrons repeat the process, causing a chain reaction.

This single reaction is still on a miniscule scale, releasing minimal energy. However, compared to their size, and if on a much larger scale, this reaction releases exponential amounts of energy. In theory every atom can be split in this way, but larger atoms are easier to split with fission, as smaller atoms have stronger attractive forces, requiring more energy to split in the first place.

Nuclear Fusion is basically the opposite of fusion, and involves bringing two smaller atoms together to make a larger one Normally, two Hydrogen isotopes (H-3 and H-4, also called deuterium and tritium) are fused together through a series of reactions to make helium (He-4, to be precise).

This requires immense heat and energy input as you are forcing two positively charged atoms together (H-3 and H-4) and positives repel. A successful reaction creates massive amounts of energy. This is how the sun makes its energy, and indeed all stars. It is a lot more complex than fission but is the way forward for weapons. One of the biggest areas of nuclear research is the conception of a fusion reactor.

Uses: Power

One of the biggest problems of the century is Climate Change and Global Warming, and the key to solving this is producing sustainable energy that is low on planet-harming emissions – such as nuclear power. It is estimated the UK makes around 20% of its electricity from nuclear sources, and this is expected to grow with a new wave of reactors. Nuclear Power mainly uses Nuclear Fission. As the process of Fission happens, the energy from the split atom is released as thermal Energy, and directed to a cooling fluid, normally water, but can be a gas, such as Carbon Dioxide. This creates steam which spins a turbine connected to a generator, producing electricity.

Uses: Weapons

Nuclear weapons are a type of bomb, referred to as a weapon of mass destruction, capable of destroying large cities with a single bomb. They have only ever been used in combat twice, both in WWII by the USA against the Japanese, on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

There are two types, atomic (using fission) and hydrogen (using fusion). Atomic bombs came first, being simpler, and tend to be larger, which is why, when used, they were dropped from planes. Hydrogen bombs were developed later, from 1952. They use fusion as, once started, the reaction is very hard to contain, ideal for causing lots of damage. Hydrogen bombs are smaller and can be attached to missiles, launched from submarines or land-based silos.

Have nuclear weapons made the world a safer or more dangerous place? Well, the seemingly obvious answer would be more dangerous. Single bombs that are capable of killing millions of people, are used as bargaining ‘ chips ’ with no thought in diplomatic discussions. However, is that really the case? You could also argue nuclear weapons have made the world a safer place, ironically. Explained in the theory of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), a nuclear war in which both sides possess these weapons would result in the destruction of both sides. Therefore, in some ways nuclear weapons act as a deterrent due to fear of the effects of a nuclear war.

Problems and Dangers

Despite their many uses, these reactions also have many dangers. Firstly, waste. Fission produces highly radioactive waste, which must be disposed of in a contained way. Its radioactivity decreases over time but is still highly dangerous. Normally, used fuel is stored under water for at least five years, and then buried deep underground contained securely. Other, less radioactive waste can be disposed of more easily. Waste from fusion is simply isotopes of Helium and Hydrogen, both gases commonly found and therefore can be disposed of easily. The use of these reactions also has further risks and dangers, which has led to several disasters.

One such example was a disaster at the nuclear power plant of Chernobyl, in modern-day Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. A multitude of failures occurred throughout the night of the 26th April 1986, due to many factors including poor design, human error, and ack of safety precautions. A power surge occurred within the reactor and an uncontrollable fission explosion occurred, blowing apart the facility. 28 people were killed, many more left with long term health problems and the radioactive cloud reached as far away as the UK and Sweden.

The exposed reactor core has been encased in concrete and another metal superstructure has been built atop. There is a 19-mile exclusion zone around the plant and the area will be uninhabitable for at least 20,000 years.

Looking to the Future…

An immense amount of research and development is still undertaken into just what power these reactions can hold. One area of research is into the concept of a fusion reactor. An immense amount of research and development is still undertaken into just what power these reactions can hold. One area of research is into the concept of a fusion reactor. If possible, it would be far more powerful than a fission reactor and have other advantages such as the lack of radioactive waste. However, the problem is that the reaction is highly uncontrollable, why it is used heavily in nuclear weapons. Organisations such as ITER, the European fusion research agency, are investigating ways to harness the power of a fusion reactor and contain it. Other organisations such as the US National Ignition Facility, aim to reduce the size of a fusion reaction, making it easier to contain. The future also brings many dangers. Nuclear weapons are viewed by many as a

‘bargaining chip ’ and a few countries rely on a strong nuclear programme. One such country is North Korea, who seem determined to obtain nuclear weapons for their own safety. They regularly test missiles, as recently as 24th March 2021, a provocative step. Other countries such as Iran and Iraq also seem to be fixated with gaining nuclear weapons. Another danger is countries already in possession of nuclear weapons. Stockpiles are growing, and there have been no new agreements over limitations, with the USA and Russia still maintaining thousands of warheads between them, around 30 years since the end of the cold war.

By Jamie Hewitt 4NDG