Malcolm Gladwell: Why Do We Fall For Lies?

Watch four more talks by Malcolm Gladwell here! youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFIigLLitqDnA-v1mjS-F7y…

More often than not, we are not being lied to, we are being told their truth. Their truth is incorrect because the person is lying to themselves, and convinced that they are telling the real truth.

how can one not continue to love and admire Malcolm Gladwell. A bright light of insights and sanity in a world fallen under the specter of chaos.

I always come away from listening to/reading Malcolm Gladwell with lots to think about. This was just a wonderful pearl of a conversation.

Throughout the Trump presidency I must have posted this 50 times on various social media platforms: “It never ceases to amaze me, the almost infinite capacity of the human being to deceive himself.“ - Professor James Breedlove, DSW, Portland State University School of Social Work (c. 1992)

I found MG humane and authentic - humane, because he seems to understand multiple perspectives within a situation and authentic, because he is prepared to say he was wrong, and even on a fundamental point in a book that made his name. Finally, he provides ways forward, without being prescriptive, eg on allowing time for trust to develop, or on hiring someone, "see if they can do the job", or on 'default trust' to "don't put all your money in one place", or systems, the simple and elegant solution of having two people in a room when a patient is under anaesthesia.

When it comes to sociopaths, it is better to read their words from a transcript than to interact with them or even watch their body movements. It is the choice of words that give people away. That is why after one is found out, people will go over comments made and suddenly it all makes sense.

Love u Gladwell! I really want schools to make this book apart of their curriculum. It’s so important.

Have learned since his first book and interviews have loved this thoughtfulness of his "soul" came from the women who raised this good man would marry in a heartbeat now 70! Wisdom comes from deep thought and compassion!

For much of human history, during our hunter-gatherer days, we lived in small communities where we all knew each other. There was no way you could say, "I can hunt crocodiles" when everyone knows that is the sort of hunting you're bad at. They've seen you nearly get killed hunting crocodiles. On the other hand, they know that you're good at finding the right herbs to help someone overcome nausea. You don't need to explain that. So being a good liar only came in handy if you were deceiving a hostile tribe - and that may have been unnecessary if you each stuck to your own territory.

Unreasonable Happiness when considering uncomfortable Actuality, ..do Right and Right will be done. Thanks for this example M Gladwell.

Here I am listening to strangers. I don't know Malcolm, but I'd trust him with anything of value to me. If HE'S deceiving me, I give up.

A very good interview. Smart questions, based on understanding the reading, and no talk over.

i can listen to this guy all day..lovely voice..very inteligent and thought provoking

The book is great, however I think Gladwell, in talking of the dangers of certain assumptions, like suicide risk and causes of rape, and not seeing them in the terms he's arguing against is falling into exactly the same trap he's trying to avoid. He's arguing that the previous assumptions are too simplistic and therefore wrong whilst putting forward alternative assumptions that are also to simplistic and therefore wrong. The issues of self harm suicidal ideation and the reasons behind the crime of rape are far more complex than he's arguing here. He's putting forward an alternative way of seeing these things yes. But his alternatives are no less flawed than the assumptions he's addressing. People who have long standing severe thoughts of suicide will absolutely seek alternative methods, the fact that one method has been closed off may dissuade some, of course it will, but it will by no means dissuade all. And, whilst alcohol use of obviously a factor in some rapes, either making a perpetrator more likely to commit the crime, just as they're more likely to become violent and get into a fight in a pub, or more likely to commit an act of vandalism, or more likely to commit car crime/dangerous driving etc, there are far more factors to all crime including rape, than alcohol use. In reading the book society runs the risk of ignoring one set of assumptions in favour of another, equally incomplete set of assumptions.

Great interview! Thank you.

Like the polygraph a lie can only be detected if people know they are lying themselves. If they believe the lie it doesn't work. "Do not onto others what you want done onto oneself" is a better measure of judging actions than detecting lies ...

Great interview. Thought provoking.

I was pulled over late at night by a Shawnee Co sheriff's officer when I was 19. It was dark, I was nervous, and I had no idea why I had been pulled over. The officer approached my beat up Datsun pickup from behind and I rolled down the window to look up and see my step-dad. "Bring this thing over to the house tomorrow so I can fix the taillights," he said, "they're out."

I always think the old saying stands up well: You don't know someone until you've either worked with them or lived them for at least 6 months. The only exceptions would be people who are gifted with psychic abilities. I have met people like that, but even these people often choose the wrong partner etc.