# Can YOU spot the fake smile? I can...I rock. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 18, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375 "2011-05-18T21:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/41 "2011-05-20T21:44:12Z")
[noparse]Like this[/noparse] gives Like this (noparse rocks) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/42 "2011-05-20T21:53:39Z")
I got 16 out of 20. I was looking at what I thought would be genuine movement in the face so I guess I did pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/43 "2011-05-20T21:57:55Z")
17/20 - I knew the tip, although I was interested in how they explained it in greater detail. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/44 "2011-05-20T22:17:23Z")
16/20. I knew what to look for. Three of my four misses were genuine smiles that I thought were fake, for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![StJoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@StJoan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StJoan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/45 "2011-05-22T14:14:12Z")
I got 19/20. I guess I knew what to look for (shrugs). What does one’s outlook on life (optimistic/pessimistic) have to do with it? There is a question at the start of the quiz on this. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/46 "2011-05-22T20:23:46Z")
17 out of 20. I didn’t know that trick, that’s just always what I’ve looked for, so nice to know it’s based on something factual. There was some study ages ago that I read about that indicated that children can tell when people are lying. To me it’s kind of a duh, as I can, too, but I can’t quantify it. Now that the smile-fakery thing has been quantified, I supposed I need to watch Lie to Me and actually pay attention. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/47 "2011-05-22T21:01:55Z")
I got 18/20 as well… I sort of guessed the tip ahead of time, I also find that real smiles make me feel like smiling back - but I am a pretty optimistic person 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/48 "2011-05-23T02:12:00Z")
1. It’s not just the eyes…the genuine smilers used their bodies, too. ---
**Author:** ![mauxlicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@mauxlicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mauxlicious)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/49 "2011-05-23T03:36:06Z")
I scored 9 out of 20. It surprised me because I have been very successful playing poker. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/50 "2011-05-23T03:58:20Z")
1. I agree with **Runs With Scissors** , it’s not just the eyes, though they’re a big part. ---
**Author:** ![Viridiana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Viridiana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viridiana)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/51 "2011-05-24T17:44:22Z")
18…missed 2 and 9. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/52 "2011-05-24T20:48:18Z")
Hot Damn 20 out of 20! I am also very curious about the optimism scale at the beginning. Maybe we are the subjects of a different kind of experiment. I rated myself at the highest end of the optimism scale. If I had to guess more optimistic people tend to be more wrong. I’ve read studies that optimistic people are worse judges of …um… things…than more pessimistic people. And depressive people are actually seeing the world more accurately. To which I’ve always said Who The Fuck Cares? It seemed to me the real smilers had been told a joke and were not only smiling but laughing. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/53 "2011-05-25T07:15:09Z")
Can’t believe I got 16/20. Most of the time I just guessed based on instinct. The few I got wrong were ones where I actually missed getting a good look at the smile because I timed the click wrong. Otherwise, maybe I’d gotten an even higher score. I guess I know when people are faking it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/54 "2011-05-25T10:56:15Z")
Yeah, last time I found that looking at the eyes messed me up. On another test I did much better, and, in that one, I just went with instinct. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375/55 "2011-05-25T19:12:25Z")
I did a lot better than I thought, scoring 17 of 20. I’m curious what the average is, because I would score myself as below average on my general ability to read people. I focused only on the eyes this time, which is probably the reason I did so much better than expected. I will note, though, that when I fake smiles I deliberately close and scrunch up my eyes a little. I think I have a convincing fake smile. Would be curious how many people would misread me if I was one of the faces. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-spot-the-fake-smile-i-can-i-rock/582375.md?page=2)