Determining who’s a liar

At the World Government Summit in 2017, Musk said he asks each candidate for a job interviews the same question: “Tell me about some of the most difficult problems you worked on and how you solved them.“ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb The reason? “The people who really solved the problem know exactly how they solved it,” he said. “They know and can describe the little details.” Science supports Musk’s theory. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition examined several job-interviewing techniques and found that Musk’s is especially effective at determining who’s a liar and who isn’t. RELATED: Elon Musk Fires Back Against Media Accusing Him for Having Affair with His Friend’s Wife. “They Could Say I’m Satan.”

The devil is in the details

In the technique known as  “Asymmetric Information Management” (AIM), an interviewer clearly tells interviewees that “if they provide longer, more detailed statements about the event of interest, then the investigator will be better able to detect if they are telling the truth or lying,” said Cody Porter, one of the study authors. “Small details are the lifeblood of forensic investigations and can provide investigators with facts to check and witnesses to question.”  In their study, the researchers found that people who are telling the truth generally demonstrate that by providing detailed information. “In contrast, liars wish to conceal their guilt,” said Porter. “This means they are more likely to strategically withhold information in response to the AIM method. Their assumption here is that providing more information will make it easier for the investigator to detect their lie, so instead, they provide less information.” RELATED: Elon Musk’s Sister Reveals His Hidden Talents. Can You Guess at Least One? Research has found that this technique can increase an interviewer’s chances of spotting liars by 70%.  Some Reddit commenters didn’t find Musk’s trick of the trade all that earth-shaking. “Very standard question,” said one. “I asked (a variant of) this at all my interviews as well. Didn’t even realize this is newsworthy,” commented another. “This could be called the Working Girl (film) method,” concluded a third.