“The science of the truth” was the experiment, conducted by American scientists from the University of Notre Dame. The purpose of the group of experimenters led by Anita Kelly was a scientific study of how lies and the truth affected human health.
The experiment involved 110 participants who were practicing “the science of the truth” for about two months. The volunteers were divided into two groups. The first group was categorically forbidden to lie, and the second group was allowed to behave as usual – that is to act on their own. Once a week, the participants gathered in the laboratory, where their performance was recorded. The participants from the second group were additionally measured their level of lies, using a lie detector. That is, when they just concealed the truth and were silent about anything, and when they resorted to complete misinformation of their interlocutor.
The results clearly demonstrated that those who told the truth, began to feel much healthier than those who resorted to lies. The participants of the second group were divided into some categories: some were cheating lavishly, and the others, being concerned about the experiment, tried to limit themselves in their own lies. These conscious participants received an award from their body in the form of improved health. The participants from the first group (those who were strictly forbidden to lie according to the experimental conditions) demonstrated even more impressive performance. They ceased to complain of headaches, they calmed the nerves, and their throat irritation disappeared.
The fact that the body responded to the phrases uttered by his master, is often reinforced by the advocates of alternative medicine schools. They believe that unspoken words actually do not go away – regularly suppressed voice impulses go deep into our subconscious somewhere where they get reborn and often “come out” as a psychosomatic illness. That is, if a person constantly restricts himself/herself and “stifles” the truth inside his throat, it is likely that this throat will hurt more than that of other people. This theory can be treated with skepticism, but the experiment of the U.S. researchers seems to have confirmed the “non-traditional” point of view.
Of course, the question remains whether it is always appropriate to tell the truth. But even rejecting the temptation of some small lie – about the reason for being late, errors at work, and achievements – significantly improves our mood, as the researchers from Notre Dame University believe. Furthermore, the absence of lies about trifles helped the participants of the experiment to better adapt to society: they started to establish contacts easier and managed to build sincere relations. All the volunteers agreed that they had never known how greatly lies could harm them in their lives.
