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Monday, March 5, 2018

Your Eyes Reveal Whether You are Lying or Telling the Truth

 This myth is still being bandied about by "experts" in fields from management to law enforcement.  The myth is that if a right-handed person looks up and to the right while speaking then they are lying.  To the left, they are telling the truth.  This scientifically controlled study, however, showed no relationship between lying and eye movement.  Further, interviewers coached in this right/left theory were no better in detecting lies.  The best indicator was "excessive" hand movement. 
But even then, how would you know what normal hand movement is for the particular person in front of you?  Some people gesture a lot, some don't.  Does that mean people who dramatically gesture are lying all the time?  Of course not.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-truth-about-lying-its-the-hands-that-betray-you-not-the-eyes-7936522.html
Lucky for me, when I'm searching my brain for a fact or figure while I'm talking, for some reason I glance up to the left.  It just feels like there's more there than on the other side (or I like to kid myself, anyway)  And I'm right-handed.  Since all of this is public knowledge, then anyone intent on getting away with lying could just change the cues they give you.  Even lie detector tests can be defeated.  The only reliable test is to verify, verify, verify.

Your Constructive Comments are Welcome!

Thursday, March 1, 2018

It's Impossible to Find Socially Responsible Companies

This is absolutely not true, as Sustainalytics demonstrates in this article that appeared in ThinkAdvisor magazine.  Socially responsible investing (SRI) has evolved into ESG investing which is more relevant, I think.  ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance (that is, corporate governance).  An ESG screen is proven to reduce future volatility.
https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2018/02/26/use-these-10-esg-factors-to-avoid-riskiest-investm

(this link works for me but let me know if it doesn't for you)
Your Constructive Comments are Welcome!