tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251043500092242623.post342203548413003850..comments2024-03-25T03:31:09.538-04:00Comments on markrothmansblog: F. Lee. Part Two.mark rothmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06577361966051927102noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251043500092242623.post-76097205137067212822016-04-17T14:51:10.942-04:002016-04-17T14:51:10.942-04:00Welcome to the return of "More Than You Wante...Welcome to the return of "More Than You Wanted To Know!"<br /><br />The polygraph measures heartbeat, respiration, and skin perspiration; variations in these are an indicator (one of many, admittedly) of whether the subject is telling the truth or not.<br /><br />The guy who invented the machine, Dr. Leonarde Keeler (that's how he spelled his name), hated the term "lie detector", which was a press coinage; his preference was "truth detector", because he felt that showing how well a subject handled the pressure of interrogation was an indication of honesty rather than deception.<br /><br />To show what the polygraph could and couldn't do, Dr. Keeler and his friend Erle Stanley Gardner devised a kind of "demonstration show", which they employed when they covered murder trials together.<br />At one such trial, Gardner and Keeler would set up for a group of reporters, mainly middle-aged men.<br />Keeler would announce that he could tell any man there his age, using the polygraph to make his judgment.<br />How that worked: Keeler would hook the guy up, run through a ten-year range of ages, and tell the gut how old he was.<br />The trick was that the guy would tense up as his age came up in the count, then relax after the number was passed. Thus, Keeler always won.<br />One reporter figured this out, though.<br />He thought he could beat the machine simply by keeping cool and unemotional, so the pens didn't wiggle.<br />Mr. Cocky took the stage, Keeler strapped him in, started reading off a ten-year age range in the 50s,<br />and - no result.<br />He'd beaten the machine.<br />Dr. Keeler took it well, at first.<br />Then, he asked Mr. Cocky if he'd like to try it again.<br />Of course, Mr. Cocky jumped at the chance to show up the Magic Machine twice in a row.<br />As he hooked up Mr. C to the polygraph for the second round, Dr. Keeler suggested that they make it interesting this time.<br />Dr. K bet Mr. C $50 that he couldn't beat the polygraph twice.<br />(This was in the '40s, when fifty dollars was still a lot of money.)<br />Mr. Cocky took the bet - and lost.<br />Once he had $50 at stake, he tensed and relaxed, just as anyone else would do.<br /><br />Once the polygraph became well-known, a lot of amateurs glommed onto it, to Dr. Keeler's dismay.<br />Erle Stanley Gardner shared this feeling, and campaigned for standards in the operation and use of the polygraph (he hated the term "lie detector" as much as Keeler did).<br />But the amateurs prevailed, and to this day, the polygraph is still not allowed as evidence in court trials.<br /><br />I remember 'Flee' Bailey's "Lie Detector" show from its brief syndie run.<br />The principle above applies; substitute "$50 bet" for "national TV exposure" and "cross-examination by a professional trial lawyer", and Mr. Average doesn't stand a chance against the Machine.<br /><br />Side note:<br />Do you recall a few years before this, when David Susskind tried to sell Flee Bailey in an updated version of "Person To Person"?<br />One of the legendary flops of its year (1967, as I recall).<br />At least Ed Murrow was able to fake being friendly when he had to; Bailey always came across as Hamilton Burger, trying to convict the poor schlep.<br />Those were the days, my friend ...Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251043500092242623.post-85346918588968845702016-04-17T14:20:50.392-04:002016-04-17T14:20:50.392-04:00I dimly recall Zsa Zsa Gabor, in a promo for the s...I dimly recall Zsa Zsa Gabor, in a promo for the show, being asked if she marries for money. I never saw the actual show, so don't know her answer or if she was telling the truth. Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02155991693956178030noreply@blogger.com