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Honestly, one's record does eventually catch up with one. This is going to last for this individual for awhile (if not forever)... I've encountered people who

Honestly, one's record does eventually catch up with one. This is going to last for this individual for awhile (if not forever)... I've encountered people who reported title inflation on their LinkedIn page, oversold what they did, and when starting their own venture, due diligence pointed out severe faults the individual papered over. Good or bad, things will catch up with you eventually.

paulcole 10y ago
>Good or bad, things will catch up with you eventually. Any truth to this besides superstition, perspective, and cognitive bias? To me it's one of those things we tell ourselves to delude people into thinking the world makes sense. Also a great thing for a terrible person who's succeeding to say.
- xapata 10y ago
  I've known many terrible people who seem to keep winning for decades. If "it" catches up with you, it can sure take its time.
  - tluyben2 10y ago
    Indeed (Trump...). And usually when it catches up (meaning getting fired, outed and pay some fines) I do not think they lose much sleep while laying on the deck of their yacht.
- flippyhead 10y ago
  Really? You've never seen people permanently harmed by bad things written about them online? We recently didn't move forward with a particular candidate for this very reason. I guess people can change their name but, baring that, the Internet lasts forever. And anyways, if you do the most basic of diligence on someone you hire or do business with, name changes and the like are easy to discover.
  - paulcole 10y ago
    >You've never seen people permanently harmed by bad things written about them online? What about all those people who get away with being assholes who we don't realize are assholes because they're so successful? What about the good people fucked over by bad luck who we never hear about? Basically your comment just reinforces what I was saying. You're using the situations you're aware of to explain the way the world works in a way that makes you happy.
    - dfraser992 10y ago
      Amen. "Name and shame" only works to some extent (re: Jacon Appelbaum) but if the person isn't that prominent, or the story doesn't get traction, then the normal human tendency to try and put it all behind oneself is a factor (along with not wanting to deal with "victim blaming") Then the story eventually turns into just gossip and is left in the past... Due diligence is a good idea, but for the first asshole I dealt with, there were stories, but the person who introduced me to him didn't tell me because of "ethical concerns". Even though he knew the stories were true and that this guy was problematic. He is also very secretive, so any due diligence I might have done probably wouldn't have turned up much (i.e. any lawsuits would have been hard to uncover). I picked up clues though and didn't put together a full picture of this guy's character till it was too late because I was too focused on the work. My take on the whole thing was everyone in the past that had been ripped off by this guy chalked it up to "life" and so nothing ever stuck to him well enough. Typical shady businessman... As for the second full blown psychopath I've dealt with... he had a reputation, I thought it was all more gossip / sour grapes, and I didn't look hard enough because I trusted the people who were giving him a pass (though my intuition was complaining). Never again. We all got screwed over and I had to spend £4k to defend myself against this idiot's bogus threats of lawsuits (my fault for being manipulated...) So if I ever do business with anyone else again, the only answer is A) trust no one and B) be a psychopath for defensive purposes. Capitalism these days practically demands that you think like a psychopath because the majority of people you deal with are going to do the same. That goes for management as well - employers are not your friends. They merely may be idiots, but you are only a resource to be exploited by them. The conclusion of all this stress over the past 7 years is that character truly does matter, in all areas of life and to focus on that first off when evaluating a person.

paulcole 10y ago

>Good or bad, things will catch up with you eventually. Any truth to this besides superstition, perspective, and cognitive bias? To me it's one of those things we tell ourselves to delude people into thinking the world makes sense. Also a great thing for a terrible person who's succeeding to say.

xapata 10y ago
I've known many terrible people who seem to keep winning for decades. If "it" catches up with you, it can sure take its time.
- tluyben2 10y ago
  Indeed (Trump...). And usually when it catches up (meaning getting fired, outed and pay some fines) I do not think they lose much sleep while laying on the deck of their yacht.
flippyhead 10y ago
Really? You've never seen people permanently harmed by bad things written about them online? We recently didn't move forward with a particular candidate for this very reason. I guess people can change their name but, baring that, the Internet lasts forever. And anyways, if you do the most basic of diligence on someone you hire or do business with, name changes and the like are easy to discover.
- paulcole 10y ago
  >You've never seen people permanently harmed by bad things written about them online? What about all those people who get away with being assholes who we don't realize are assholes because they're so successful? What about the good people fucked over by bad luck who we never hear about? Basically your comment just reinforces what I was saying. You're using the situations you're aware of to explain the way the world works in a way that makes you happy.
  - dfraser992 10y ago
    Amen. "Name and shame" only works to some extent (re: Jacon Appelbaum) but if the person isn't that prominent, or the story doesn't get traction, then the normal human tendency to try and put it all behind oneself is a factor (along with not wanting to deal with "victim blaming") Then the story eventually turns into just gossip and is left in the past... Due diligence is a good idea, but for the first asshole I dealt with, there were stories, but the person who introduced me to him didn't tell me because of "ethical concerns". Even though he knew the stories were true and that this guy was problematic. He is also very secretive, so any due diligence I might have done probably wouldn't have turned up much (i.e. any lawsuits would have been hard to uncover). I picked up clues though and didn't put together a full picture of this guy's character till it was too late because I was too focused on the work. My take on the whole thing was everyone in the past that had been ripped off by this guy chalked it up to "life" and so nothing ever stuck to him well enough. Typical shady businessman... As for the second full blown psychopath I've dealt with... he had a reputation, I thought it was all more gossip / sour grapes, and I didn't look hard enough because I trusted the people who were giving him a pass (though my intuition was complaining). Never again. We all got screwed over and I had to spend £4k to defend myself against this idiot's bogus threats of lawsuits (my fault for being manipulated...) So if I ever do business with anyone else again, the only answer is A) trust no one and B) be a psychopath for defensive purposes. Capitalism these days practically demands that you think like a psychopath because the majority of people you deal with are going to do the same. That goes for management as well - employers are not your friends. They merely may be idiots, but you are only a resource to be exploited by them. The conclusion of all this stress over the past 7 years is that character truly does matter, in all areas of life and to focus on that first off when evaluating a person.