EVERYBODY LIES | Seth Stephens-Davidowitz | Talks at Google

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is a Harvard-trained economist, a visiting lecturer at Wharton, a former Google data scientist and a writer for The New York Times on big data.

Seth sat down to talk with Googler Megan Green about his new book, EVERYBODY LIES: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Reveals About Who We Really Are. In this book he explores the online data we leave behind every day, and what it reveals about our hidden feelings, desires, and fears; he explores topics ranging from Google searches about divorce peaking after Christmas, to whether Americans are more preoccupied with the intellectual potential of their sons or daughters.

Moderated by Megan Green.

[Meru]

Hail USA.
A data science researcher uses Google Trends to study the behavioral patterns and reveals it all in his books - racism, pronography searches, husband-wife relationships, basketball players etc. etc. and Google invites him for a talk to understand him better.
I am in awe of such scientific temper and the spirit of inquiry and research.

[i.a.]

this is really really interesting data, and it has great potential in my view. My only concern is it only shows data from people who search google. What % of the population is this leaving out, and how significant is that? Maybe in ten years when everyone googles everything, this will be more valuable.

[neoepicurean]

34:46 - excellent question. I'm sure that many people do this. I know I'm constantly seeing those bizarre suggestions and clicking just to see what the hell is going on.

[trb]

His comment at around 24:45 is ironic because The Lakers were originally located in Minneapolis :)

[Knightonagreyhorse]

Interesting talk but I wonder for example what is a 'racist' search and is such a search necessarily racist? Does it reflect the users views/ opinions?

[dougiequick]

There are many easy to understand reasons that people would lie...I have no problem with lying if it is supported by my conscience .... As an example if one wanted to protect hidden Jews from Nazis one would simply like when asked if they knew of any. And a million other things via conscience.... That is one category of lie but what about all the lying we do that is simply pride based?


What I believe is that it is our very nature to select things we like to approve of and then virtually swear they are right even while KNOWING we have no actual proof. It is the religious aspect of being human ....something we rightly ought to repent of IF our conscience is to be honest. Look at the thousands of or whatever one terms various religious groups....there is no actual proof any of them are right and yet each has or has had it adherents that virtually swear to KNOWING it is THE right (righteous) thing to choose. I extend this to include not just God based stuff but also supposed science based positions sworn to AS right .... Have credentialed teachers and professors in droves telling students with bold faced authority that such and such scientific theory is FACT? And what do you know but OF COURSE most people will follow the herd ...even though over the ages one prevailing after the next is proven either downright false or grossly inaccurate. The fact is that the vast overwhelming majority of people than have bought into a popular theory AS fact are doing so WITHOUT ever actually "doing the science" their own self ...and actually if you look at one thing after another I am pretty sure you will find that most of these things were presented as theories to begin with ...but people hate having the element of question I guess so as it is taught from one teacher to the next, things tend to loose the word "theory" ....teachers i guess so badly want to be the one's in "the know" ....they just cant stand to not present things as theories .... JUST LIKE their religious counterparts really it is people simply choosing to put their "faith" in one thing over another. Another word for the practice is simply "lying" ...I mean it is NOT lie to tell others the positions you like most along with the reasons you are so inclined ....but the very instance you assert a thing as infallibly true/right? When you KNOW in your heart that all you are doing is presuming that the people who taught you honestly KNEW it to be right? At that very instant you OUGHT to feel like the filthy liar that you ARE being. WHY oh WHY oh WHY is it SO damn hard to just be honest?

[darkjill]

This is pretty wild stuff I'll check out your book

[blackyurizan]

This is some interesting stuff, I am tempted to buy the book

[αλήθεια-σκ]

ppl where laughing and enjoying the talk and all of a sudden racism ...pin drop science...almost as if caught with a hand in 🍪 jar.

[maori_brotha]

He's being provocative: the great thing about Google is not only can you can look up stuff you are fully in to, but you can look up stuff you are curious about, but NOT into. Google data can not tell us the difference. So the title is provocative, but it's not true either! Great read though...

[dougiequick]

It seems like every liar feels he/she is gaining something via being dishonest ....whether it is trying to make money, or get laid, or attract more friends, or feel powerful over an ability to influence others....power gain in other words. What I find oddest is the number of people that REALLY deem themself to be honest ...that really think they do not lie as part of their religious "faith" ....Yet at the same time they are lying their asses off (I confess having been fully guilty of this my own self) one is virtually swearing their religious understanding is infallibly RIGHT? THAT right there obviously is at least overwhelmingly a total LIE! SO many people from hundreds of diverse religions claim as fact the same basic thing! Things that go something like this "GOD showed me the truth through His Holy Spirit leading me" So supposedly then this same God of the Bible (IF you gave people general credibility) is leading a ten different people to have total confidence in ten different things that are all CONTRARY to one another....Yet I am pretty sure if you brought this up to each one, they typically would simply say all the otherswereeitherlying or have been deceived by "satan coming as an angel of light" All the others but THEM of course.

WHY oh why oh why is it so damn hard for us to simply be honest? To STOP claiming to be infallibly RIGHT? To STOP "eating"(partaking) of "the fruit of the tree" (the presumptions of people) that is claiming to KNOW /the "knowledge of" what honestly is right or not right ....true or not true....in other words "good and is it we are so compelled to "eat" this fruit? To LIE to our own self and fellow man? WHY is it so impossibly difficult for us by nature to simple stop! (repent of it) ? And just speak in honesty? ALWAYS confessing ourself to be fallible? AKA "this is my best thinking right now ....I am NOT claiming my thinking to be infallibly right"

What we do by nature whether it is in our statements re God or Science or just dealing with others in this world for the sake of posturing political/ moral/ ethical GAIN of some sort or holding onto what we believe we presently hold we naturally just tend to LIE our asses off! INSISTING we "KNOW" our position to be infallibly "RIGHT" ....even while in our heart of hearts we KNOW we are lying? We have to KNOW deep inside that we are taking a guess ....maybe a best guess but a guess and CHOOSING to amplify and elevate our presumption to be infallibly RIGHT? It is the stuff of hatred and war...of seething resentments ....even literal death ....yet for SOME type of "gain" it appears to be our nature to just keep practicing it??

[avr]

That women tend to search for "why won't he have sex with me" more than men could just as easily be due to women's higher propensity to google the issue as it is that the prevalence of the issue is higher in women.

[acajudi]

God knows the truth, so that is all that matters.

[rushellrousseau]

The comments here suck in my opinion. I think it was interesting research to do on such a search engine.

[ItsWithakayLee]

I like this guys idea and the Data but his conclusions are dumb

I wish he would ask why that I’d rather these searches are there rather than moralizing it and judging it

Ex, maybe there is a valid reason, an evolutionary reason we care more about our daughter looks and more about our sons intellect, it’s not immediately obvious that’s wrong

[Sushilkumar]

Why does he keep pulling and playing with the hands of his shirt?

[sdbaets]

His voice crackle thing makes this unwatchable for me

[tbos]

I was waiting for the Trump part. It just had to be there...

[yiralaya]

Google talks is getting worse and worse with every new dumb PC video.

[edwincardona]

He thinks he is funny. But not is ridiculous.