The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty
How We Lie to Everyone - Especially Ourselves
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The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty
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Narrated by:
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Simon Jones
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By:
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Dan Ariely
About this listen
Fascinating and provocative, Ariely’s The Truth About Dishonesty is an insightful and brilliantly researched take on cheating, deception and willpower. Internationally bestselling author Ariely pulls no punches when it comes to home truths.
Previous titles PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL and THE UPSIDE OF IRRATIONALITY have becomes classics in their field, revealing unexpected and astonishing traits that run through modern humankind. Now acclaimed behavioural economist Dan Ariely delves deeper into the dark and murky recesses of contemporary psychology, daring to ask the big questions:
What makes us cheat? How and why do we rationalise deception of ourselves and other people, and make ourselves ‘wishfully blind’ to the blindingly obvious? What affects our infuriatingly intangible willpower and how can we ‘catch’ the cheating bug from other bad apples?
If you’ve ever wondered how a whole company can turn a blind eye to evident misdemeanours within their ranks, whether people are born dishonest and whether you can really be successful by being totally, brutally honest, then Dan has the answers, and many more.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited (P)2012 Dan ArielyCritic reviews
‘Anyone who lies should read this book. And those who claim not to tell lies are liars. So they should read this book too. This is a fascinating, learned, and funny book that will make you a better person.’
A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically and Drop Dead Healthy
‘Dan Ariely ingeniously and delightfully teases out how people balance truthfulness with cheating to create a reality out of wishful-blindness reality. You’ll develop a deeper understanding of your own personal ethics—and those of everybody you know.’
Mehmet Oz, MD; Vice-Chair and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University and host of The Dr. Oz Show
‘I was shocked at how prevalent mild cheating was and how much more harmful it can be, cumulatively, compared to outright fraud. This is Dan Ariely’s most interesting and most useful book.’
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan
‘A captivating and astute study […] In his characteristic spry, cheerful style, Ariely delves deep into the conundrum of human (dis)honesty in the hopes of discovering ways to help us control our behaviour and improve our outcomes.’ Publishers Weekly
‘Lucid and succinct as always […] Required reading for politicians and Wall Street executives’
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What listeners say about The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mykl Devlin
- 07-09-12
Typical Dan Ariely
A good read, very similar to his "Predictably Irrational" and "Upside of Irrationality". There are repeats of some of the previous findings, but now through a different lens.
The essential message is that all of us lie. The trick is balancing how much we lie and cheat with our perception of ourselves.
It is fun making yourself predict the outcome of the studies as he is describing them... but a little disturbing to understand how much every single one of us lies in some way.
It finishes with some interviews from his "Arming the Donkeys" podcast, where Dan himself hosts the discussion - which are entertaining if you have not heard them before.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- G
- 09-23-13
Thanks for writing this book
When reading it, suddenly one understands that dishonesty is far from being black and white. Thanks for the insights, Dan.
Also so greatly narrated!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- John Zoetebier
- 07-09-12
Very interesting book about a typical human treat
What did you love best about The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty?
The reason why people cheat and deceive is not as simple as someone may think. Actually we may not even be aware why we behave the way we do. This book gives a better explanation for why humans cheat and what affects this behaviour.
Any additional comments?
Worth while to listen to.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Washington
- 02-19-13
Too Much Detail
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
The topic is very well covered and there is valuable info in the book but it is tedious. I would recommend a highlights package.
Would you recommend The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty to your friends? Why or why not?
The book is a scientific work that is presented to the general public. Unfortunately the author is too invested in maintaining his scientific credibility and as a results runs through every experiment in detail. It become too much.
Did Simon Jones do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?
Yes
Could you see The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
No
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Neuron
- 01-06-16
We cheat when we can live with it
Everyone cheats, at least, a little. This is true whether you are a priest or an atheist; wealthy or homeless; a banker or a moral philosopher. That everyone cheat is almost self-evident, but if you do not believe it, then that is one more reason you should read this book.
The focus of this book is not whether we cheat because we do. Rather it is when, how much, and why we cheat. The orthodox view on cheating has been that we cheat when we gain from it. If you can steal something and you know the risk of getting caught is basically zero, then you will. If you stand to gain a lot, you can live with a higher probability of getting caught. If, on the other hand, the penalty for getting caught is severe or if you would not gain very much then you do not cheat. This view, which has been, and still is, particularly prevalent among economists is, as this book will show, utterly wrong.
So when do we cheat? In short, we cheat when we can live with it. Almost everyone thinks of themselves as honest and righteous persons and to maintain this self-image, we tend to act accordingly (not acting in accordance with your self-image results in cognitive dissonance, which most people find stressful). We are usually creative enough to rationalize some types of cheating. For instance, most people think it is ok to take a pencil from their workplace or to take a can of coke from a co-inhabitant. We can rationalize these acts, but when acts begin to resemble blatant theft, most people shy away because it interrupts their personal narrative.
Ariely also discusses ways to reduce cheating. Reminding people of moral codes before an opportunity to cheat reduce cheating. For example, having people sign an “I declare that all my answers are truthful…” box before they fill out their tax form reduces cheating. Wearing counterfeits, on the other hand, seems to cause people to cheat more, presumably because that makes them think of themselves more as cheats. Other factors that increase cheating include being creative (makes it easier to rationalize), seeing others cheat, being asked to cheat (by your boss for instance).
Ariely is a good writer. He is funny while he maintains a high level of scientific rigor. All in all, this is a very good book and a must for anyone who wants a better understanding of the psychology of cheating.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elad
- 02-08-13
Dan Arieli continues to surprise and delight...
with his original social experiments. These books are best read in chronological order. If and when his next book comes out, I will listen to it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marcel-Jan
- 08-20-12
How to prevent the "what the heck" effect
I noticed we've just scraped the surface why we cheat, but this audiobook has some insightful points about that.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 10-06-16
Another Sobering Reminder of Our Imperfect Brains
In both academic and real-world situations, Dan Ariely continues to show that we deceive more than we imagine, despite our best intentions. Simon Jones conveys the author's nuances of style just right. I've listened to it twice and it didn't feel redundant.
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