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This is something we’ve been waiting a very long time for. The Church of Scientology uses devices called E-Meters to measure Thetans in the body. We’re not going to discuss this further, because we don’t want to be murdered. In reality, the E-Meter is simply a device that costs five thousand dollars and only measures the resistance of the human body. It does this by having the subject hold two copper cylinders and a simple Wheatstone bridge. Why does the E-Meter cost five thousand dollars? As [Play With Junk] found out, it’s an exquisitely engineered piece of hardware.
[...] What’s most impressive is the quality of the components that go into a machine that effectively only measures the resistance of the human body. The ‘trim’ pot is a Vishay wire-wound precision potentiometer that costs somewhere between $20 and $60. The power switch is an over-specced switch that probably costs $5. The control pots look and feel great, and the wiring is wrapped around chokes.
Is it powered by Thetans? Because that would be awesome.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Sunday July 22 2018, @11:15PM (2 children)
According to a program I heard on the radio, it's more a matter of having a relaxing image or memory ready to bring to mind whenever you are challenged by dangerous question.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 22 2018, @11:55PM (1 child)
You would need to do this for every question asked and require the willpower of a Tibetan monk to pull off consistently every time. The polygraph works by establishing a baseline from known-true answers and comparing the curve to answers of unknown veracity.
That's how the ass-clinching thing is (or was) supposed to work: by making the needle bounce with fake reactions to baseline questions, when actually lying later on the recorded stress reactions are supposed to be drowned out/disregarded as regular noise instead of signal.
Suppressing any stress reactions at all means you're either a psychopath with no emotional response or you've come pretty fucking far on the path to spiritual enlightenment...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 23 2018, @06:46PM
yeah, i always thought it was pretty funny that the test won't work if the suspect doesn't give a shit.