I cannot tell a lie (Liar!)

As a previous "user of mental health services" I was recently asked to take part in a large-scale research project designed to look for genetic markers as predictors of mental illness. So my blood was taken and submitted to a detailed DNA analysis, while I was given a lengthy personality inventory to complete. Among the many questions included, was this one:
"Have you ever told a lie?"
I answered yes, as every honest person would, but I recognised the question for what it was: a "lie question" These are questions salted in amongst the other questions which are actually designed to tell if the responder is truthful. Another technique is to ask the same question, but in a way which requires first a yes and then a no answer in order to remain consistent. The questions are worded very differently so that they are not easy to spot at first glance.

We all tell lies, most of us every day. Sometimes it is the kindest thing to do; after all, even Jesus was probably circumspect about his answer when Mary Magdalene asked him if her bum looked big in that gown.

Lying comes as second nature to politicians; fortunately it is fairly easy to spot the dissembling and evasive. Sometimes though, it can be utterly outrageous, as, for example when President Assad appeared on American television to announce that the problems in his own country were caused largely by imported insurgents. It is true that Syria has proved something of a magnet to foreign Jihadists, but to look straight into the eyes of his interviewer and deny that the war in Syria began as a popular protest against the autocratic and brutal regime operated by Assad and his supporters has to strain the credulity of even the most trusting of observers. His great friends the Russians have come forward to say they have strong evidence to suggest Al Qaida was behind the sarin gas attacks: is that a lie too? We don't know yet, but all will be revealed before too long, I suspect. But we'll have to endure a great many more lies before then...