The Truth Machine (1996) James L. Halperin

12.2024

So ... The Truth Machine. I started reading this book around the start of December during tech week for a ballet production. We had long breaks especially while they were still making sets so I asked my dad to recommend a book to keep me occupied.

This book has been very interesting. The concepts and issues it explores are pretty cool, but my main thought while reading was that it was pretty .. soulless. About halfway through when they finally finish building the truth machine, a.k.a the perfect lie detector, humanity basically eradicates all crime and corruption. Children become smarter overall as an average, and the entire population becomes more logical. As in, everyone basically turns into Vulcans. I guess in a way it's pretty cool, but even Vulcans could lie, you know.

The Truth Machine focuses mainly on the political and economic impact of the lie detector, but I can't help but wonder how a perfect lie detector would affect the realms of art. The repurcussions of lying in this world are all man-made, but how does the affect of the truth machine on the world's psyche affect the creation of art, like film or writing, and on culture as a whole?

Writing-wise, it's pretty good. Quite easy to get through even though sometimes the author goes way too in-depth into the specifics of the stock market or the American legal system.