Buzz
Eliminating your natural tells can be tricky, especially if you're unaware of them. However, if your goal is to become a better liar, you can devise a fake tell to mislead others into thinking you're being truthful, even when you're not.
This article is part of Mytour's Evil Week series, where we explore the darker aspects of achieving goals. Sometimes evil is justified, while other times, understanding evil is crucial to overcoming it. Want more? Visit our evil week tag page.
A 'tell' is a behavior that tends to appear when we're lying, whether it's a slight twitch or something more overt like cracking our knuckles. Once someone figures out your tell, they'll catch you in a lie every time. However, one of our readers, zanmania, discovered a clever workaround for this problem:
Honesty was highly valued in my household, and I faced pressure to be completely transparent. But I soon realized that if I was caught in a lie immediately, my parents wouldn’t get angry—they’d just laugh at me for thinking I could pull it off. So, I started telling small, harmless lies just to get caught. I’d claim I had already taken out the trash, then pause and smile, and they’d immediately call me out and tease me. Over time, they figured out how to 'catch me in a lie' because I was so obvious about it. Now, if I want to deceive them successfully, I simply avoid smiling.
The more harmless lies you tell using your fake tell, the more you can set someone up for a genuine deception. But be cautious. Overdoing this could lead them to believe you're always dishonest, which would defeat the purpose. And before you attempt any serious lies, ensure it’s worth the risk and that you’re prepared for the fallout if you’re caught.
Photo by Alejandro Mallea.
