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What is more satisfying than a story of victory over adversity by healthy people? Takedown. These two strands came together last weekend in a much-discussed investigation into the memoir of author Rayner Wynn, “The Path of Salt,” by the Observer Newspaper.
Salt Pass tells the story of Wynn and her husband, Moth, who have become homeless, travelled 630 miles along the coast of Devon and Cornwall, and 630 miles along all weather conditions. Nature has not only been spiritually healed, but also physically and physically proven.
can’t believe it? Well, probably. The couple, whose real names are Sally and Tim Walker, say they lost their home due to a bad loan made to help their friends. However, observers reported that Wynn embezzled money from his employer. The newspaper also questioned Moth’s health.
Memoirs are legally advised. In a statement this week, she said the investigation was “grotesquely unfair and extremely misleading.”
This episode must have impacted businesses beyond the publishing industry and scrutinized fact-checking procedures. After all, falsehood depends on your working life. A recent survey by fraud detection service HEDD found that “67% of large companies see an increase in job application fraud, resulting in trends in AI tools used to enhance or manufacture experience and qualifications.”
I doubt the storytelling trends for businesses that require entrepreneurs, leaders and brands to have a story. This encourages embellishment and imposes a simple arc on a successful outcome. As LSE researchers pointed out, people can exaggerate their humble origins and showcase their achievements through their skills and talent. Like Kemi Badenok, the leader of the British Conservative Party, he says he has worked for three months at McDonald’s.
Or the fake till- tells a tall story about makeup, future profits for emerging culture entrepreneurs, investors, the size of the business, and whether the product will work (Elizabeth Holmes).
This is a unique historical moment. Scams have never been easier. You can send large quantities of fraudulent emails and quickly generate Deepfark experts. It’s also easier to publish falsehoods. After all, anyone can play Armchair Detective and stitch together personal information from social media and online databases.
At the same time, as long as the story has “truth” there is great tolerance for lies by using the phrases of our comedian Stephen Colbert to resonate plausibly and emotionally.
The same weekend, the same weekend when Salt Pass Story broke, I found an Instagram account with thousands of followers. I wondered how this type of sadness could survive, and although he looked sad, I thought I was seeing the common family members. When I saw it closely, I saw the narrator being an AI-generated character. Some commenters complained about the fakes, while others seemed to be in motion. Perhaps it was motivated by the desire to believe, not by the ease of being fooled.
Truth is less important than the story. A few years ago, I asked Hollywood actor Tom Hanks how he felt about the AI character being replaced in the film. “Some people don’t dig into it because they’re not real people. Others just don’t care because the story is okay,” he said. Frank Abagnale tells me this week that if you could, it’s now the film “Catch Me”: “People want to believe that the story is true.
People who are investigated for fraud and who are not appear to be arbitrary. Whatever the truth behind Wynn’s story, she could not predict such attention. Books are not an obvious choice for those who want to quickly acquire the rich.
Also, it appears to be random to decide in the court of public opinion. Against the backdrop of global economic and political turmoil, the Salt Pass investigation became a viral hit.
But if you discover it, it may prove to be the only thing you remember, Abagnale said. Despite working with businesses and law enforcement for decades to combat fraud, he said he was “a criminal and always a criminal.” “I’m the only responsibility for my mistake,” he added. “Infamy is the worst curse an individual can experience,” he added.
This article was revised to correct the name of comedian Stephen Colbert
