Watching for Nonverbal Cues Is Not Despite popular belief, there
are no consistent nonverbal cues associated with lying (see,
nonverbal cues). The nonverbal cues that have been identified
vary widely from person to person, situation to situation, and
according to the nature of the lie being told. And when
nonverbal cues have been identified – after looking at thousands
of liars and truth tellers - the findings cannot be applied to
any given individual. To begin with, most signs of lying occur
too quickly to be seen with the naked eye. If deception is
revealed, it usually happens through micro expressions - briefly
flashes of one's true emotional state (see, facial expression
test). More importantly, findings based on group averages cannot
be applied to individuals. For instance, if you know that
smokers have a shorter lifespan than nonsmokers – and you know
that I don’t smoke – based on that information, can you tell
when I’m going to die? Can you even tell me that I’m going to
live longer than most smokers?