BookWorm: The Honest Truth About Dishonesty

Human dishonesty needs to be investigated using the lens of behavioural biases. For most people, honest behaviour is less of a rational choice and more a function of psychological and environmental forces. Ariely argues that the factors driving dishonesty could be as simple as conflict of interest or even tiredness.

Convenience can sometimes backfire. With auto-locking doors it often does. Usually, I share a spare key with my friend but the last time my house door slammed shut behind me, my friend wasn’t available and I had to call a locksmith to open the door. I thought he would bring a large toolkit of sophisticated instruments and perhaps take his sweet time to open the door. To my surprise, all it took him was a thick piece of plastic sheet to pick the lock in 15 seconds.

“If it’s so easy to hack this lock then I should get a better and safer lock. Isn’t it?” I asked the locksmith.

“Sir, there’s hardly any lock that an expert locksmith can’t open.” He told me.

So why should anyone bother locking their doors? The surprising answer to that question is – “Locks are on doors only to keep the honest people honest.” This shocking sentence has a lot of wisdom in it. What if I told you that one percent of people will always be honest and never steal. Another one percent will always be dishonest and always try to pick your lock and steal. And the rest will be honest as long as the conditions are right – but if they are tempted enough, they’ll be dishonest too.

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