Yesterday Jonathon and I saw the documentary, You Can See Everything.’ The story of Elizabeth Holmes. She founded the company Theranos. Having been valued at 10 billon dollars it is now defunct due to fraud. Nathan Fielder asked Ms. Holmes is she lied to investors and the American public when she said that the Edison a small blood testing apparatus could test for over 600 different things in a small box that at one time was distributed to Walgreens. She responded that she did not and that she told the truth when she attested the ability to perform over 600 tests when it had in fact only succeeded in testing for a handful. Her husband said that Elizabeth’s mind does not function as others do. Now Ms. Holmes prohibited any examination of her labs or the Edison. She took issue with a report from the New York Times that quoted her as saying when she was the CEO of Theranos she was, ‘Playing a role.’ Nathan Fielder showed Elizabeth a film of the famous Abbott and Costello comedy routing, ‘Who’s On First.’ She said that she found the skit funny but did not understand that the point of the routine was the strange names of the players on the bases being misunderstood. Nathan Fielder told her that when she told him that she believed she had not lied when she said the Edison could perform over 600 blood tests it caused him to think of Who’s On First.

We live in a bit of a bubble. Our words often do not convey what we think they are conveying. We hear what we are conditioned to hear. Communication is difficult when we speak different languages. The President tells us Affordability is a hoax. Perhaps that is believed when the price of a gallon of gas does not affect your Bottom line.

Elizabeth Holmes appealed to powerful men. Her wide eyed unblinking gaze captivated them. They sat on her board with little to no verification of her assertions. It was a trust me organization until it was not.