Body Language Expert: Alvin Greene is Lying

[Truth2Tell]

http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/17/body-language-expert-analyzes-alvin-greenes-deceitful-behavior/

...

Patti Wood, a body language expert, thinks Greene’s story stinks to high heaven.

A seasoned pro in the field of reading tics, cues, tones and postures, Wood has spent the last three decades in police stations and living rooms dissecting other peoples’ behavior. The Daily Caller sent Wood several videos of Greene with the request that she analyze the candidate’s quirky interactions with the press.

Her first take? “This guy is so bizarre.”

-snip

“Think about it this way,” she said. “When the brain is under stress, and you’re trying to hide something, your strong lymbic brain tells your body, ‘I’m just not going to show anything.’ If you only saw one video, you would think the man was really stupid. I mean, something is really-seriously-missing-stupid. But after watching three videos, my take on it is that he’s hiding a ton. That’s his cover, his mask for when he doesn’t want to go there. He just shuts down.”

-snip

“When I teach deception techniques to police using videos of murderer interviews,” Wood said, “you’ll see people saying something positive while shaking their head to communicate a negative. It’s a really big tell. What’s happening, is that the lymbic brain — -the primitive part of the brain — responds first, before the neocortex can put a lie into words.” Essentially, the head betrays the lie.

“One of the dramatic things that showed up was that he was saying positive statements and shaking his head ‘no,’” Wood said. “He did that quite a few times. He says, ‘I worked hard,’ while shaking his head ‘no.’ He does it again when he says, ‘I campaigned all across the state.’” After Wood reviewed all three videos, she concluded that Greene exhibited deceptive behavior every time he spoke save for once: When he told a reporter that 60 percent of the vote is “a lot.”

-----

So this was all pretty obvious already. But apparently some people have limited powers of personal observation. So here it is from an expert. :)

[arcane1]

1. Glad to see an expert comfirm my gut reaction

:)

[DavidDvorkin]

2. "Body Language Expert"

There is no such thing. It's pseudoscience.

[diane in sf]

3. what you're saying is not true

[RZM]

5. But how could that be???

O'Reilly does a regular segment on it!!! :)

[SpiralHawk]

7. Dude, you needs your Phrens felt up

[DavidDvorkin]

8. Where's the skepticism bump?

I know I have one.

[SpiralHawk]

11. Ahhh, that's below the belt

on the backside

[devilgrrl]

9. Pseudoscience? Says who?

eom

[DavidDvorkin]

12. The burden of proof is on those who claim it's a legitimate body of knowledge.

[AngryAmish]

10. Absolutely correct

Can't disprove it.

[Marr]

16. I don't understand.

A smile is body language. Do you think it's a completely meaningless gesture?

People communicate a lot through gesture, posture, tone of voice, etc. It's why it's so easy to misconstrue someone's point in a letter, or even on the telephone, and so much easier to "get it" in person.

[DavidDvorkin]

17. Some things are obvious

Such as a smile. No one doubts that people display their feelings to some degree, and try to hide their feelings.

The pseudoscience of body language claims to have determined the details far beyond that. But the claims are all there are. There's no body of evidence, no meaningful studies, and it cannot be falsified.

[msongs]

4. then you cannot "read" a person with clinched fists, crossed arms, and a huge scowl on his face?? n

[blondeatlast]

13. +1. nt

[shanti]

6. absolutely

he reeks of it.

[baldguy]

14. No shit.

I didn't know Cracker Jack still gave out good prizes - such as degrees in Psychology.

[gratuitous]

15. Apropos of nothing in particular

Isn't it about time for a DU meet-up? Maybe play a little poker? I'm assembling a little list of people I'd like to see at my table. Me? Oh, I'm not very good. Straight beats a flush, right? J's are better than K's, aren't they?

Shuffle up and deal.

[Truth2Tell]

18. Maybe it's because I've been playing serious poker for years

that all of this is so freaking obvious.

:shrug:

[gratuitous]

19. Yes, the danger is in overpromising what can be read

But there are indeed "tells" that give away when a person is lying, and Alvin Greene is either brain damaged or he's lying his ass off.

[JoeyT]

20. And if someone else claims to be a body language expert and says he's telling the truth, what then?

Of course since there's absolutely nothing to prevent anyone from calling themselves an expert in body language, since the term is utterly meaningless, the second someone disagrees they're an expert in body language too.

Take a look at the woman's http://www.pattiwood.net/">website. It looks like every other quack website on the internet. She's a huckster out to make a buck and get on the TeeVee machine as much as possible. She's Uri Geller in a dress.

Edited to add: Yes, he's probably lying. I'm not going to run his horoscope in the hopes of proving it, though.

[lunatica]

21. Not only is Greene a liar but he's a very bad liar

His face is obviously expressionless and he needs to look off camera for someone to help him answer questions and his body is rigid and his lips are pinched. It reads like someone who is not only trying to control how they look but also someone who is not very good at it.

If I saw that man in person and he answered me like that I would be very suspicious.