For a time, I volunteered for a charity that provided general advice and support, mainly on issues of welfare, money and debt.
The longer I was there, the more obvious it became that most of the people I saw were simply fuck-ups. Although a minority simply had bad luck, most of them were simply unable and unwilling to responsibly manage even the most basic aspects of their lives. In hindsight, this is completely obvious - responsible, resourceful people rarely have need to seek help in running their lives.
Likewise, medics see a completely distorted picture of human health. They see a grossly disproportionate number of people from the minority of the population who are hypochondriacs, or have some form of somatoform disorder, or who chronically abuse their body. Conversely, they only infrequently come into contact with people who don't like to cause a fuss, or people with medical phobias.
There is data to suggest that police officers believe that they are much better than the general population at spotting lies, but are in fact much worse. The best explanation for this is that police officers habitually deal with people who are simply very bad at deceit - skilled criminals are rarely caught, whilst the most incompetent of petty thieves may be arrested several times a week. Officers believe that they know what a lie looks like because they are constantly dealing with people who lie, but in fact the only know what a very bad lie looks like.
For a time, I volunteered for a charity that provided general advice and support, mainly on issues of welfare, money and debt.
The longer I was there, the more obvious it became that most of the people I saw were simply fuck-ups. Although a minority simply had bad luck, most of them were simply unable and unwilling to responsibly manage even the most basic aspects of their lives. In hindsight, this is completely obvious - responsible, resourceful people rarely have need to seek help in running their lives.
Likewise, medics see a completely distorted picture of human health. They see a grossly disproportionate number of people from the minority of the population who are hypochondriacs, or have some form of somatoform disorder, or who chronically abuse their body. Conversely, they only infrequently come into contact with people who don't like to cause a fuss, or people with medical phobias.
There is data to suggest that police officers believe that they are much better than the general population at spotting lies, but are in fact much worse. The best explanation for this is that police officers habitually deal with people who are simply very bad at deceit - skilled criminals are rarely caught, whilst the most incompetent of petty thieves may be arrested several times a week. Officers believe that they know what a lie looks like because they are constantly dealing with people who lie, but in fact the only know what a very bad lie looks like.