Talk:Lie detection

Ability Naming Conventions
The following sources are used for determining evolved human ability names, in order:
1. Canon Sources	Episodes
2. Near-canon Sources	Webisodes, Graphic Novels, iStories, Heroes Evolutions
3. Secondary Sources	Episode commentary, Interviews, Heroes: Survival
4. Common names for abilities	Names from other works
5. Descriptions of abilities	Descriptions
6. Possessor's name	If no non-speculative description is possible
Note: The highlighted row represents the level of the source used to determine lie detection's name.
Source/Explanation
Sylar referred to Sue as a "lie detector" (Our Father).

Renaming?

• I thought that Intuitive polygraphy would fit. But for now, "human lie detector" is the best choice since that is what Sylar called it. Mike 22:25, 8 December 2008 (EST)
  • Are you sure he didn't call Sue a human lie detector? Sorry, I missed the first half hour of the episode, so I wouldn't know. Sincerely, Thrashmeister [ U | T | C ] 22:26, 8 December 2008 (EST)
    • That is exactly what I said. Mike 22:28, 8 December 2008 (EST)
      • That would be nice, but didn't Sylar say something along the lines as "Lie detector/detection"? If so, according to the naiming convention the context of the episode would outrank anything else. However, if he didn't then I'm all for it.--OutbackZack 22:34, 8 December 2008 (EST)OutbackZack
      • Nope, you said Sylar called it, referring to the ability itself, "human lie detector." Sincerely, Thrashmeister [ U | T | C ] 22:34, 8 December 2008 (EST)
        • Whatever. I remember him saying something along the lines of "What you can do... Human lie detector... Must make it hard to trust anyone." In essence he was referring to both Sue and her ability. Mike 23:30, 8 December 2008 (EST)
          • We've heard Nathan's power referred to as Human flight potential, yet we named the page Flight. Kinda the same case here. Psilaq Remake 18:35, 9 December 2008 (EST)
            • I think the name "lie detection" is fine as it is. -- RyanGibsonStewart (talk) 18:41, 9 December 2008 (EST)
        • As do I. I actually don't see any issue with the naming of this ability; lie detection seems perfect for it.--FlamingTomDude 00:28, 10 December 2008 (EST)
• I also believe that the name should be changed though to something along the lines of Pulse Detection. I say this because in Duel, Sylar was able to get the same kind of feeling when he told Clair something that made her nervous or fearful, which would increase her pulse, so the power may make someone a human heart rate monitor. -- Signyour Poste
  • That's completely speculative. Plus, there are people that can trick things such as polygraphs that rely on physiology to determine if a person is lying, if they have a strong enough mind and believe their lie enough to tell it. Sylar's lie detection is all-knowing; as far as we know, it can detect all spoken lies. Which it wouldn't be able to do if it relied on pulse detection. Not to mention "pulse detection" does not describe the ability accurately at all. Sincerely, Thrashmeister [ U | T | C ] 22:19, 18 December 2008 (EST)

Limits?

Could this power detect only when someone is knowingly stating something false (intentionally lying) or when they are unknowingly stating something false (unintentionally not telling the truth) or both or anything else? Could this power be used to detect (discern) the differences? For example, what if (hypothetically) Arthur falsely (erroneously), but truly believed himself to be Sylar's father, but actually wasn't. What say you? -- prander 11:28, 9 December 2008 (EST)

• I think you are asking the following: If Person A knew something to be the truth, but said fact was actually false, what would this power read? I think the power would read it as truth, because I think it's based on the bodily tell-tale sings of lying --SacValleyDweller (talk) 11:39, 9 December 2008 (EST)
  • Yeah, basically. Or could this power detect the differences, could it be used to detect when someone is intentionally lying as opposed to when someone is unintentionally not telling the truth (Person A)? -- prander 13:31, 9 December 2008 (EST)
    • Not telling the truth could be omitting, you think she's able to detect that as well? Intuitive Empath - Talk - Contributions 13:53, 9 December 2008 (EST)
      • It would probably read it as truth because the person speaking it doesn't think of it as a lie. If the ability was able to know it was a lie even if the speaker didn't, it would probably be more of a "know everything" ability instead of one that detects lies. --Spexile 20:00, 24 April 2009 (EDT)

a form of telepathy

many powers in the show are actually a form of telepathy but they go into different subcategories, i believe it is a form of limited telepathy hence lie detection, are we going to make a page which subcategorizes abilities to their type eg. elemental or that goes to the theories page? -- Signyour Poste

• That theory is already at Theory:Abilities in general. Intuitive Empath - Talk - Contributions 08:22, 17 February 2009 (EST)

Writing it Down and Misquotes

The episode itself escapes me, but didn't Luke once write something down (I believe it was Samson's address), and Sylar said something like 'you're not lying'. Should this be at least noted on the page? -- Signyour Poste

• After writing it down, Luke said that's what Sylar wanted, and the ability recognized that as true. Intuitive Empath - Talk - Contributions 14:42, 24 April 2009 (EDT)
  • In A Clear and Present Danger Martin Gray wrote Samson's taxidermy office's adress, and Sylar stated it was true. AltesUTC CH

Also, this page says that BTE confirmed this to be a physical ability, not a mental one. I'm pretty sure this is incorrect. I believe what they said was that it could possibly be fooled. I think that should be changed.--Laudo 22:36, 23 April 2009 (EDT)

What BTE was that in? I'll go change it, if you confirm that that's what the BTE said.--ERROR 10:52, 12 June 2009 (EDT)

An Invisible Thread

I think the writers forgot they gave Sylar this power. Everytime Noah, Matt, or Angela calls him Nathan they are lying. Shouldn't something go off when they do. And just like at he end, at the funeral, when claire said "i cant believe he's really dead"...noah says "yep, he's really dead claire"..wheres that detector for that?--Catalyst · Talk · HL 19:45, 3 July 2009 (EDT)

• There might be ways around it, if what they say can be interpreted as the truth in any way, I think the ability wouldn't be set off. Intuitive Empath - Talk - Contributions 19:54, 3 July 2009 (EDT)
• The fact that the lie detector in Sylar's brains is going off is a moot point, since he has no idea what it is. Therefore, it doesn't need to be shown. - Josh (talk/contribs) 20:31, 3 July 2009 (EDT)
• yeah, he would just be feeling a slight tingle the whole time. He wouldn't know what it means.
• Sue Landers knew she could detect lies. AltesUTC CH
• Matt and Angela made Sylar forget he had these abilities. So far, Sylar (as Nathan) has only moderately demonstrated his Intuitive Aptitude ability but he was still unaware he was using it. It is quite possible that since he has absolutly no knowledge he has any other abilities, his mastery of Lie Detection is gone. :) AJUTChronicles
  • I actually suggested that Sue intuitively knew if the statement she was told was false. Unless after many tingles she figured out that she felt them whenever somebody was lying. IMHO Sylar has lost his powers just like Samson, i.e. forgot them and cannot access them anymore. AltesUTC CH
• Sounds plausible (plausible, lol), we never really found out why Samson couldn't remember any of his powers. *SPOILER REMOVED* AJUTChronicles
  • Samson said he just forgot them. AltesUTC CH
    • sorry bout the spoiler talk, slipped my mind and I just wrote. AJUTChronicles