According to its admirers, something called "statement analysis" is the new breakthrough in forensic science. It is also sometimes called SCAN (scientific content analysis). It will replace the polygraph in law enforcement. Maury Povich will start using it on his show. What is this miracle? http://skepdic.com/statementanalysis.html Statement (or content) analysis is the notion that there are linguistic give-aways to whether someone is telling the truth. And well, yes, as a matter of common sense and interrogatory experience this is true, the give-aways work as a matter of generality. There is nothing scientific about them. After all, the usual give aways are well known to experienced frauds, who adapt their stories accordingly. "Don't add too much irrelevant detail to your story, they take that as suspicious," one con artist must commonly tell another. Here we stumble upon one of the great distinctions between the human and the physical sciences. ...
