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Now onto this week’s article:

Everybody Lies

I am back again to address the question that this newsletter revolves around: "What resonated with me this week that I feel will resonate with you?"

This week, a memory resurfaced during a conversation about predictive advertising. Back in my senior year of high school, I came across a book titled "Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us about Who We Really Are" by Seth Stephens Davidowitz. This book completely blew my mind, leaving me captivated by its unique concept and mind-bending data.

The genius premise of the book lies in its analysis of Google Search Data to uncover insights about the human psyche. Seth, a Harvard-trained economist and former Google data scientist, effortlessly merges these two spheres in his work. The key revelation is that much of our economic, psychological, and medical data, which doctors, entrepreneurs, and individuals rely on to make decisions, is gathered through surveys or studies. However, the truth is that not all respondents provide entirely truthful answers. For instance:

• “A recent survey asked University of Maryland graduates various questions about their college experience. The answers were compared with official records. People consistently gave wrong information, in ways that made them look good. Fewer than 2% reported that they graduated with lower than a 2.5 GPA (grade point average). In reality, about 11% did. And 44% said they had donated to the university in the past year. In reality, about 28% did.”

• “More than 40% of one company’s engineers said they are in the top 5%. More than 90% of college professors say they do above-average work. One-quarter of high school seniors think they are in the top 1% in their ability to get along with other people. If you are deluding yourself, you can’t be honest in a survey.”

There simply isn't a strong enough incentive for individuals to disclose the full and unfiltered truth, no matter how confidential the survey or study may be.

But where can we find a strong incentive to do so? Enter the Google search bar.

Humans input absolutely everything about themselves and others into the Google search bar out of curiosity and the necessity to potentially find solutions to their inquiries. Through this, we can discover things about the human psyche that perhaps no one would even consider creating a survey or study on.

In other words, as SSD said, "don't trust what people tell you, trust what they do."

It's more reliable to trust what people type into the search bar rather than what they provide in a survey.

"Certain online sources get people to admit things they would not confess anywhere else. They act as digital truth serums. Think of Google searches. Remember the conditions that encourage honesty. Online? Check. Alone? Check. No person administering a survey? Check."

Here are some examples to illustrate this idea:

Parents searches about their kids

• “Of all Google searches starting ‘Is my 2-year-old,’ the most common next word is ‘gifted.’”

• “Parents are two and a half times more likely to ask ‘Is my son gifted?’ than ‘Is my daughter gifted?’”

• “Parents Google ‘Is my daughter overweight?’ roughly twice as frequently as they Google ‘Is my son overweight?’”

Anxiety

• “Over the past eight years, Google search rates for anxiety have more than doubled.”

• “Searches for ‘anxiety in the morning’ have risen threefold over the past decade.”

• “Searches for ‘anxiety at night’ have risen ninefold.”

• “Searches for panic attacks are overwhelmingly concentrated in less educated, poorer parts of the country, particularly Appalachia and the South. Test-taking anxiety is highest in Arkansas. Searches for ‘anxiety about death’ are highest in Kentucky.

  The epicenter of anxiety, according to Google, is Presque Isle, ME., where fewer than 20 percent of adults hold a bachelor’s degree.”

Hate Search

• “Hours after the massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 2, 2015 and minutes after the media first reported that at least one of the shooters had a Muslim-sounding name, a disturbing number of Californians had decided what they wanted to do with Muslims: kill them.

  The top Google search in California with the word ‘Muslims’ in it was ‘kill Muslims.’ And the rest of America searched for the phrase ‘kill Muslims’ with about the same frequency that they searched for ‘martini recipe,’ ‘migraine symptoms’ and ‘Cowboys roster.’”

on a more positive note:

Early Cancer Detection

• “The researchers focused on searches conducted on Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, that indicated someone had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. From there, they worked backward, looking for earlier queries that could have shown that the Bing user was experiencing symptoms before the diagnosis. Those early searches, they believe, can be warning flags.”

Here 2 great quotes to sum up the idea:

"I think there's something very comforting about that little white box that people feel very comfortable telling things that they may not tell anybody else about: Their sexual interests, their health problems, their insecurities. And using this anonymous aggregate data we can learn a lot more about people than we've really ever known"- SSD

“Knowing the truth is the first step to improving the world” - SSD

Here is a great video of Seth talking about his book: https://youtu.be/1gBViHUDYD0

So what?

I was recently asked by a friend one of the most thought-provoking questions I have encountered to date: "What do you think is the biggest difference between how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you?"

Even if we strive to be completely honest with others and, for the most part, succeed, we often deceive ourselves. This self-deception occurs when it comes to understanding our strengths, weaknesses, how we present ourselves to the world, and how others truly perceive us. We sometimes believe that people can read our minds, and we rationalize our flaws, convincing ourselves that they are not flaws at all, but rather strengths, thereby avoiding the need to address them.

I value friends and people who tell me their truth, even if it may not be easy to hear.

Sometimes, the kindest thing you can do is point out a blind spot that someone might be overlooking, in a way that shows genuine care for their improvement.

Engaging in difficult conversations can be liberating.

Zooming Out

Awareness is the most crucial thing we can cultivate as humans. We cannot address issues that we are unaware of or may be underestimating the magnitude of. Google search data provides insights into biases and some of the less illuminated corners of the human psyche that exist within those around us.

I have a differing view from those who are concerned about AI knowing everything about us. I can't help but envision the future of this concept, especially with the acceleration of technologies like Chat GPT and AI. I believe that Data Scientists like Seth Stephens Davidowitz & AI itself gaining access to the massive amounts of queries submitted to ChatGPT, will generate astounding results including solutions to some of our most significant challenges and illuminate darkness that exists within the human psyche.

I return to a quote by founder and CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman:

Seek out your blind spots and actively ask for feedback on them. You cannot address what you cannot see.

Discourage immorality in others at all costs. It is our responsibility.

Onward and upward.

G