Everybody Lies

Human behavior has two layers — what we say and what we actually think. Surveys capture the first. Google captures the second. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz’s Everybody Lies isn’t just a book about data — it’s a revealing journey into the private world people expose only when no one is watching. The core idea is simple but transformative: when individuals are alone with search engines, they confess their insecurities, desires, prejudices, curiosities, obsessions, and fears with remarkable honesty. The book exposes this shadow-world of truth using Big Data, particularly Google search behavior, social media analytics, pornography consumption, and A/B experimentation.

Stephens-Davidowitz argues that the digital footprints we leave tell a more accurate story about the human condition than interviews, polls, or self-reported research ever could. The internet has become humanity’s uncensored diary — and inside it lies a raw, uncomfortable, enlightening image of who we truly are.

Google as the World’s Most Honest Confessional Booth

People lie in public. They lie to keep peace with family. They lie on surveys because they want to look respectable. They lie to coworkers to appear competent. They lie to themselves to preserve self-image. But when they type into search bars — they whisper the truth.

Stephens-Davidowitz refers to search data as a modern form of “digital truth serum.” People type questions they would never say aloud: sexual concerns, private anxieties, fears of illness, doubts about partners, political resentments, secret prejudices. The internet becomes a therapist without judgment — one that quietly records.

Search analytics reveal emotional trends. Contrary to the assumption that humor is used to mask sadness, jokes spike during moments of collective joy, not despair. Parents’ assumptions about their children are also exposed: searches like “Is my son gifted?” massively outnumber “Is my daughter gifted?” revealing unconscious bias toward male intellectual superiority. Anxiety-related searches, instead of clustering among stressed urban professionals, surface in rural regions with lower education levels — a reversal of common stereotypes.

Through the aggregate sum of private questions, society becomes transparent. Not polished. Not polite. Just honest.

The Dark Side of Prejudice Hidden Online

Traditional research suggests racism has declined because few openly admit racist beliefs. Everybody Lies dismantles this illusion. Racism hasn’t vanished — it has simply retreated into private spaces. Stephens-Davidowitz shows that when anonymity exists, prejudice reappears without filter.

Racial slurs and hateful jokes dominate some of the most frequently searched offensive terms in America. Geographic search patterns correlate directly with voting behavior, economic inequality, and the treatment of minority groups. During historic events — Barack Obama’s election or racial justice incidents — racist queries surged. Big Data revealed what polls could not capture because no one wants to look racist in a phone interview.

By quantifying online hostility, Stephens-Davidowitz estimates Barack Obama could have gained several additional percentage points in elections if racial resentment were absent. Regions with a high density of racist search patterns also show lower economic outcomes for black citizens. These findings suggest racism influences not only attitudes, but paychecks, politics, education, hiring decisions, and crime policy.

The internet doesn’t create hatred — ...