I asked AI:
What are the biggest lies that are widely believed to be true and have a significant impact on humanity?
1. “Success follows a linear path.”
The Lie: Work hard → go to school → get a degree → get a job → climb the ladder → find happiness.
The Truth: Real growth is chaotic, non-linear, and personal. Success often looks like failure until it’s not.
The Impact: This belief leads millions to judge themselves harshly when their path isn’t straight, stifling innovation and self-worth.
“Success is linear”
• Inspired by: Joseph Campbell (Hero’s Journey), Scott Adams, Naval Ravikant
• The real path of growth is spiral-shaped, with detours and plateaus.
• Popular culture and schooling promote the myth of a clear ladder.
2. “Humans are rational beings.”
The Lie: People make decisions logically, weighing pros and cons with perfect clarity.
The Truth: Emotions, biases, stories, and subconscious patterns often run the show.
The Impact: This lie weakens our systems—legal, economic, political—because it assumes reason where there’s narrative.
“Humans are rational”
• Based on: Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow), Amos Tversky
• Human decisions are shaped more by biases than pure logic.
• This idea restructured entire fields like behavioral economics.
3. “History is a fixed story.”
The Lie: What we learn in school is the truth about how the world came to be.
The Truth: History is often the story of the victors, the powerful, the loudest. It is revised, edited, weaponized.
The Impact: Entire cultures are silenced. Repeated patterns of injustice go unchecked.
“History is fixed”
• Inspired by: Howard Zinn (A People’s History of the United States), Yuval Noah Harari
• History is often written by victors, and perspectives are omitted or twisted.
Note: I don’t want to tell you what to make of it. Find your own understanding!
