How often are you told to skip the book and watch the movie instead? You may have heard of the Dan Ariely the famous behavioral economist, TED talker, author of Predictably Irrational and other great books. You may already know about his research on the human behavior around lies, but now you can dig a little deeper in this documentary “Dishonesty: The Truth About Lies” courtesy of Netflix and laugh and gasp at how we lie to ourselves and others to rationalize behavior that benefits us.

The documentary features celebrity criminals, insider traders, sports cheats, business cheats, and footage and explanations of the hilarious research Ariely has done over the years.

Why This Matters?

Before Ariely’s work and even currently, most economic theories and models are based on a presumption that human beings are perfectly rational beings who always make perfectly reasonable and rational decisions. So basically, our economic philosophies, models and analyses, to this day, are full of crap, and should be looked at skeptically to say the least.

You can learn all about Dan Ariely on his website.