Psychiatrists, to be effective,
Even employers prospective.
Very hard they try,
Using curious apparatus,
Tricky questions throwing at us,
To determine our mind's status
Find if we've told a lie!
Turns out it's not a plaything,
From the way we look and say things
Or the manner we convey things,
Tell if it's the truth.
Though they measure circulation,
And the change in perspiration,
Or some other innovation,
They can't tell, forsooth!
Psychologists have now assembled
Data: If one consciously dissembled,
And a true liar resembled.
Who a fast one pulled,
The unconscious mind detects it,
But the conscious mind rejects it,
And though one may not expect it,
That is why we're fooled!
And the reasoning fantastic
For our minds' such strange gymnastics,
And our ethics, so elastic,
We try to deny,
Is supposed to be, they tell us,
That our daily lives compel us,
To be hailed as such good fellows,
We have to tell lies.
And this is why lie detectors,
Other consciousness affectors,
Our veracity protectors
Don't get it, though they try!...