Lie To Me

Jonah Lehrer cites an intriguing NY Times piece on the science of microexpressions. His research suggests that virtuoso poker players have learned to trust their unconscious impulses in relation to their opponents, although many elite players have somehow managed to cover up any possible tell from their face.

One of the things I learned while hanging out with professional poker players for my book is that the pros rarely have obvious tells or tics. They've learned how to hide and obscure their underlying emotions. (In fact, an obvious display of nervousness is usually interpreted as a form of play acting, which suggests that the player actually has a good hand.) And yet, pro poker players still believe that, when it comes to the interpretation of someone else's anxieties, they can make reasonably accurate guesses, even if they can't explain where these guesses come from. In other words, the players believe that their unconscious brain is constantly picking up the microexpressions of deceit, which allows them to act upon relevant information outside of conscious awareness. When players talk about developing a "feel" for the card game, what they're often referring to is this ability to read the mind of someone else, even when that person is doing everything possible to hide their mind. We know more than we know, and part of what we know is that even the best liars have subtle tells.

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