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Some people, from what I've seen, boo, when they lie, they…

“Some people, from what I've seen, boo, when they lie, they become very still and centered and their gaze very concentrated and intense. They try to dominate the person they lie to. The person to whom they're lying. Another type becomes fluttery and insubstantial and punctuates his lie with little…” quote by David Foster Wallace
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““Some people, from what I've seen, boo, when they lie, they become very still and centered and their gaze very concentrated and intense. They try to dominate the person they lie to. The person to whom they're lying. Another type becomes fluttery and insubstantial and punctuates his lie with little self-deprecating motions and sounds, as if credulity were the same as pity. Some bury the lie in so many digressions and asides that they like try to slip the lie in there through all the extraneous data like a tiny bug through a windowscreen ... Then there are what I might call your Kamikaze-style liars. These'll tell you a surreal and fundamentally incredible lie, and then pretend a crisis of conscience and retract the original lie, and then offer you the like they really want you to buy instead, so the real lie'll appear a some kind of concession, a settlement with through. That type's mercifully easy to see through ... Or then the type who sort of overelaborates on the lie, buttresses it with rococo formations of detail and amendment, and that's how you can always tell ... So Now I've established a subtype of the over-elaborator type. This is the liar who used to be an over-elaborator and but has somehow snapped to the fact that rococo elaborations give him away every time, so he changes and now lies tersely, sparely, seeming somehow bored, like what he's saying is too obviously true to waste time on.””

David Foster Wallace

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Observes distinct liar archetypes, each with characteristic body language and speech patterns that betray deception.

In simple terms: Different liars show telltale physical and verbal cues.

Key Takeaway

Watch for consistent behavioral patterns when assessing truth.

Themes

psychology communication deception behavior analysis

Mood

skeptical analytical

Type

observational descriptive

When to use this quote

  • interviews
  • court testimony
  • personal relationships
  • media interviews

Key Concepts

nonverbal cues storytelling cognitive bias

Questions to Reflect On

  • How do cultural norms affect liar behavior?
  • Can you reliably identify a liar by these cues?
A Different Perspective

People may adapt styles, making detection harder.

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