From the interview:
ROOKE GLADSTONE: The character who plays you in the show, Cal Leightman, says that liars are more likely to look at you while they're telling the lie because they want to see if you’re buying it.
DR. PAUL EKMAN: Well, it’s more than that. They also believe this false idea that if you look away, it means you’re lying, so they don't want to be caught, so they look at you more than anybody else ever looks at you. [LAUGHS] And so, in fact, maintaining unbroken eye contact very often suggests that you’re dealing with a liar.
The myth of the honest person who looks you in the eye when he tells the truth is... well, just that. A myth. The fact is, since that myth is out there, liars often work harder to look you in the eye. That's been my experience too, in having to figure out whether people are lying or not. I'm often wrong at the time, but in hindsight, many of the people who lie to me have done so with unblinking focus.
If you think about it, what would prevent a liar from looking straight at you in the first place? Shame? Liars have significantly less shame than people who value truth and facts. I won't comment on the previous administration. No, the only people who have actual barriers against eye contact are people like me.
I can't say for sure, but it's a pretty good guess that in job interviews of the past, when I haven't revealed my vision issue -- nowadays I always do --potential employers would think of me as shifty-eyed and probably dishonest. I hope some of these people get a wind of the new Fox show that Dr. Ekman is advising. In the meantime, since I do have employment as a teacher, I get to meet hundreds of kids a year and subtly erode the myth of eye contact and honesty. I can live with that.
Now I have a couple more days to think about that race thing.
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