EugeneR
Second Unit
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2000
- Messages
- 263
As has been said, it depends on what part of the "government" we are talking about. The DOE relatively recently commissioned a study by the National Academy of Scienes on the effectiveness of polygraphs for a very pragmatic reason--they were thinking of using them in ensuring security at nuclear facilities. The conclusion reached after a million taxpayer dollars ws spent on research?
"The National Academy of Sciences declared Tuesday that polygraph examinations are dangerously unreliable and the federal government should cease depending on them to screen for security risks. The academy's 18-month, federally-funded study found that the so-called lie detector not only incorrectly deems large numbers of people who are telling the truth to be liars, but may have allowed spies and others posing security risks into sensitive positions because they were able to pass polygraph tests." --Story in Chicago Tribune, Tue, Oct. 08, 2002
Executive Summary of Study
I wouldn't take a polygraph exam if my life depended on it.
Especiallly if my life depended on it, come to think of it.