Why Do We Feel Compelled to Live a Lie and Project a Fake Image of Ourselves?

The problem is not the algorithm. The problem lies with us — we are natural-born liars.

Erik P.M. Vermeulen, PhD
4 min readNov 17, 2023

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Photo courtesy of author

“Organizations tend to check boxes and create false realities. Compliance has lost all meaning. And that was your big takeaway? I could have told you that.”

While on the plane home last week, a fellow passenger — a rather angry-looking man — asked me about my purpose in visiting Singapore.

So, I told him about the conference I attended, and it triggered a monologue on the problems in our world.

“Don’t we all act like the organizations you refer to?” he continued. “We pretend to be someone we’re not. Projecting a false reality that makes us appear to be more than who we truly are. I guess that about eighty percent of our lives are simulated or fake.”

“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” I mumbled.

“Ours is a world of true lies.”

I Am Whoever You Want Me to Be

He kept speaking, apparently without pausing for breath. Perhaps it was the rarified air or the captive audience (me), but he had a lot to say, and he certainly wasn’t interested in my views.

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Erik P.M. Vermeulen, PhD
Erik P.M. Vermeulen, PhD

Written by Erik P.M. Vermeulen, PhD

Where Gen X memories meet today’s struggles.

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