Ask HN: Have you dealt with a real life pathological liar(s) in tech? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Have you dealt with a real life pathological liar(s) in tech?

6 pointsjesuscript6 comments

Here is a list of George Santos's lies:

- Lying about where he went to school

- Lying about where he worked

- Lying about owning a number of rental properties

- Lying about being robbed of his rent money

- Lying about being Jewish

- Lying about his criminal status in Brazil

- Lying to donors

- Lying about his athletic accomplishments

- Lying about his mother dying on 9/11

- Lying about his campaign finances

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/politics/list-of-george-santos-lies-all-the-mistruths-the-congressman-is-accused-of-telling/4043980/

This is a little beyond white lies, or resume embellishment. He made it pretty far, all the way to congress. Just curious if anyone has seen anything like this at companies you've worked for.

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Santos should resign that said if we were to list the lies from politicians the list would be too long. Many current policitians in office have lied about the same things listed in the preamble. I'm not defending Santos nor am I making an equivocation. They all should be fired in my opinion. I hired a guy that claimed to have a BSEE, requested he mail me a sealed transcript from college, he did not have the degree, he had failed out.... when confronted with this information he had no response. So weird.

I have, and my first-hand experience is that such people are like black holes, warping everything around them. One such person I worked for sued a supplier, thankfully over a relatively minor matter. They refused any kind of mediation/compromise and insisted on having their day in court. They lost. Outside the court afterwards, the person seemed momentarily despondent, but then shook it off and announced 'That will be the last time anyone sues [me]!' I cut ties immediately, sending back every conceivable business document by courier and waiving my own financial interests. Life is too damn short.

Though it's worth knowing how to deal with such a person in real life, the fact that Santos is an elected politician and recourse/remedies are very different from interpersonal/business ones means that it's not a great discussion topic for HN.

Perhaps not pathological liars, but I have come across a decent amount of people who exaggerate their skills and accomplishments extremely - I don't know if I would categorize that as lying, but they do do it a lot.

I try to stay away from them; they tend to be highly confident but highly defensive.

I worked with a pathological liar kind of like this except after every story people told she would have to "one-up" it with a story about herself. It was not only strange to witness but very entertaining.

Don't forget about lying about his employees dying at a mass shooting.

But politicians are pretty well known for dishonesty in general. Many if not most of the top politicians have had lying scandals in their past. Most have been smart enough not to lie about easily verifiable things like university attendance or work history.

Every programmer distorts the truth to preserve code he's already written. It's not pathological if everyone does it.

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