Elizabeth Holmes: The psychology of a liar

IMPORTANT POINT. Many of the studies referenced in this video come from Dan Ariely's book The Honest Truth About Dishonesty. Since creating this episode some evidence has come out that studies of this type contained false data. None of the studies I referenced have been questioned yet, but it's worth listening to this with scepticism.

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Most of us have heard that Elizabeth Holmes is a pathological liar. How she coned investors out of billions. But few of us know why she did it, why her employees endorsed her and why so many of us believe her.

In this episode of Nudge, I study the psychology behind dishonesty and attempt to reveal the psychology of a liar.

[CiprianaLeme]

She appeared in magazine covers and was called a self made billionaire without ever producing a product! It’s incredible. All based on a promise.

[markthompson]

I'm surprised that video didn't mention the fact that her father worked for Enron, which is another company that became world-famous for its corporate lies. It seems that this sort of thing runs in her family.

[meredithscents]

I once missed a doctor appointment and I told the doctor that I simply forgot. He immediately called his secretary and told her to remove my late fee or my cancel fee. He then told me most people make up excuses and I appreciate your honesty.

[S_iswatchingyou]

Dan Arielly is no longer a good source as recently he was in a huge scandal for data fabrication, including the studies you mention. Ironically, he is just like Elizabeth and lied and cheated on the topic of lying and cheating. He even supported her by providing explanations for why her behaviour was justified (and by extension, his behaviour).

[indyj]

Lies are easy, the truth is hard. Lies get you off the hook, the truth holds you accountable. Lies get you something for free, the truth makes you earn it.

[pete]

One of the interesting things to me about Elizabeth’s lying, and something that some people don’t realize, is that she was lying about everything from Day 1. As soon as she dropped out of school and started her company she was lying to potential investors and clients, partners, and soon media. Before it was even a blood testing company she was lying about other projects. She never even attempted to make it an honest company, or learn how do business legitimately. Her one and only plan was to fake it and then hopefully make it. You’d think someone would want to learn the business first before trying to find all the loopholes, shortcuts, and ways to cheat. But she went directly to cheating. So as a teenager she had already made lying her big career plan

[energy]

Narcissist. Easy! I married one and every word out of his mouth was a lie. Comparing her to the average person who has empathy cheating on an exam is ridiculous. She lied without any empathy for those she harmed. Normal people don't lie when it clearly harms others. She didn't give a hoot about anyone except herself. She did it for power, control and fuel from those around who idolised her and fed her with praise. Her narcissistic grandiosity is clear to see.

[iscreemz]

The woman clearly has "Psycho Eyes". She'd give me the freakin creeps.

[aaronjoseph]

She is the example of how a lie turns into more and more lies until your entire existance turns into an enormous web of lies.

[WeirdWizard]

This video is seriously undermined by its heavy reliance on psychologist Dan Ariely, whose own work is now being challenged as allegedly faked.

[yehmen]

Pathological liar sums it up. She probably spent her entire childhood honing her skills. She would have made a good real estate agent, financial adviser... or politician.

[iJayD]

I don't know whether the research in the book The Honest Truth About Dishonesty has been called in question, but I know Dan Ariely has been accused of fabricating research, which is ironic, given his field of study. Just something to note.

[julianfoot]

Society encourages lies. We love and reward liars. We applaud people who spout rubbish and don't question their falsehoods. I have sat in meetings where everyone senior nods as some consultant talks nonsense... and never admit they didn't understand a word. Its Brilliant and explains why there is so much big fraud in business.

[McVaio]

In my experience, most people don't cheat. I remember working as a cashier. Unbeknownst to the employees, they'd put everyone on his or her own cash register for two weeks to find a thief. Everyone except for the thief had a balance close to 0. No one stole anything except for that one guy.

[lornarettig]

I think she lied to the jury, too. She claimed that the same woman who was very obviously drunk on her own self-importance and giddy with how great she thought she was, was really just a poor innocent pawn of Svengali Balwani. I don't buy it for a second.

[stephenschiavone]

People also didn't call bullshit because Holmes had her own personal Stasi of private investigators and lawyers to go after any whistleblowers.

[lucypimentel]

She began by lying to herself first. When she believed that lies, she decided everyone could believe them too

[isakmlster]

I remember having heard about this and standing outside a kiosk window, looking at her picture in a magazine and having this gut feeling that 'she just doesn't look right. If it's that easy, why haven't anyone come up with it before? She looks too young, too un-scientist-y. If she really is that smart to have come up with this revolutionary thing, she wouldn't be on the front page of this magazine with those crazy eye. Something's off. So I didn't listen to the news about it anymore, and just waited for the thing to come crashing down.

[sabrinaleedance]

She really took "fake it till you make it"WAY too seriously

[FreebornLivingWoman]

Superb discussion. Well done. All of those employees who kept quiet all those years are also complicit in this fraud. How do they all sleep at night?