It happens all the time. More than we realize. People lie everyday, everywhere. Patients do it everyday – “Did you eat anything after midnight”? “No”, comes the response – only to later find that they ate a full breakfast! Experts say that often people lie to make themselves appear better in the eyes of others or to boost their self-esteem. According to one expert, people lie “not so much to impress other people but to maintain a view of [them]selves that is consistent with the way [others] would like us to be”. The truth is that there are as many reasons for lying as there are people. And then there is lying on a different level altogether. Probably everyone has encountered that person who lies about everything – compulsive liars. “A compulsive liar is defined as someone who lies out of habit. Lying is their normal and reflexive way of responding to questions. Compulsive liars bend the truth about everything, large and small. For a compulsive liar, telling the truth is very awkward and uncomfortable while lying feels right. Compulsive lying is usually thought to develop in early childhood, due to being placed in an environment where lying was necessary. For the most part, compulsive liars are not overly manipulative and cunning rather they simply lie out of habit - an automatic response which is hard to break and one that takes its toll on a relationship”.
And then within the classification of liars there are the best of the best - pathological liars. These people can do nothing but lie. And they are so extremely cunning and manipulative that others easily fall prey to their equivocation and prevarication. Lying is a part of their reality. Lying gets them where they want to be. “A pathological liar is usually defined as someone who lies incessantly to get their way and does so with little concern for others. Pathological lying is often viewed as a coping mechanism developed in early childhood and it is often associated with some other type of mental health disorder. A pathological liar is often goal-oriented (i.e., lying is focused - it is done to get one's way). Pathological liars have little regard or respect for the rights and feelings of others. A pathological liar often comes across as being manipulative, cunning and self-centered”
Perhaps one of the best publicized individuals that might fit this description is Frank W. Abagnale, Jr. He is highlighted in the Steven Spielberg movie, Catch Me If You Can, the real-life story of this gifted forger and confidence man who attempted to stay one step ahead of the lawman determined to bring him to justice. Frank W. Abagnale, Jr., had a natural talent for making subterfuge work to his personal advantage. While at school one day, Frank successfully passed himself off as a substitute teacher. His small-scale success gave him some ideas, and he soon discovered bigger and more profitable ways of hoaxing others, passing himself off as Pan-Am airline pilot, a pediatrician, and an assistant attorney general. Frank was such a good forger that he managed to pass more than $4,000,000 in fraudulent checks!
We might be tempted to think that these sorts of liars are not very prevalent. A quick look reveals that this is not the case. We are surrounded by people like this:
James Frey: After his autobiography A Million Little Pieces became a bestseller thanks to Oprah Winfrey selecting it for her book club, it was discovered that important parts of the book had been fabricated.
Stephen Glass: While working as a reporter in the late 1990s for The New Republic, it was discovered that Glass had been making up facts in his stories. Glass had gone so far as to create fake websites and sources.
Jayson Blair: In 2003, the New York Times reporter was caught plagiarizing and making up parts of his stories. He resigned and published a book in 2004 called Burning Down My Masters' House: My Life at the New York Times. In the book, he blames his behavior on a past battle with bipolar disorder and drug problems.
Janet Cooke: Washington Post journalist Cooke won a Pulitzer Prize for a story called 'Jimmy's World," about an 8-year-old heroin addict. The only trouble was that she had created the entire story out of thin air. Once it was discovered, Cooke resigned and returned the Pulitzer. She has since sold the movie rights to her story.
Like Glass and Blair, Cooke lied about her schooling and previous experience in order to get the job. She falsely claimed to have a degree from Vassar College and to have studied at the Sorbonne in Paris.
Jack Kelley: In 2004, it was exposed that USA Today correspondent and Pulitzer Prize nominee Jack Kelley had been fabricating stories and sources. He denied the charges and resigned.
Bill Clinton: The 42nd President of the United States. Lied under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and subsequently, in 1998, became the second president in U.S. history (the first was Andrew Johnson) to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
Richard Nixon: The 37th President of the United States. After it came to light that he had been involved in illegal activities, including wiretapping and harassment of political opponents in the Watergate scandal, Nixon lied and tried to cover up the misdeeds. The truth eventually came to light and he resigned before he could be impeached.
Baron Münchhausen : A German baron who served in the military and returned home with tall tales about his adventures. He reportedly told people that he'd travelled to the Moon, ridden cannonballs, and escaped from a swamp by pulling himself out by his own hair.
And let’s not forget Bernie Madoff: the former Chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange and the admitted operator of the Ponzi scheme that might be "the largest investment fraud in Wall Street history". In March 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 felonies and admitted to turning his wealth management business into a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors of almost $65 billion. Apparently it came naturally to him. "Bernie showed his con-man colors as early as high school, when he held an English class enthralled with an oral book report -- one that he made up on the spot out of whole cloth". He also robbed Uncle Sam out of two years of Vietnam War-era Army Reserve active duty by developing a case of nerves."
Thinking about the acts of these people forces us to ask questions: How can a person lie about everything and still seem so believable? How is it that a person could do these sorts of things? How is it that a poseur could be so successful? How can a person portray themselves as godly, say to your face in the most convincing manner that they care about your well-being, pray for you, shake your hand, hug you, pat you on the back and then seek to destroy your reputation via calumny if and when they find you in the way of their goals and desires? The answer may lie (no pun intended) within science. Recent evidence suggests that “pathological liars may have more capacity to lie and fewer moral restraints”. It seems that pathological liars have “the equipment to lie and they don't have the disinhibition that the rest of us have in telling the big whoppers.” Though in a different league and on a totally different scale, to be sure, the administration of MTSA would easily fit into the above list - like a hand in a glove. However good the administration of MTSA may look externally, they are as phony and bogus as one of Frank Abagnale’s checks. Both Frank Abagnale and Bernie Madoff are great examples of how far pathological liars may propel themselves despite, and possibly because of, their prominence. Based on some of the careers of these pathological liars, it appears that the lies of these individuals took them very far indeed. The administration and the school look somewhat like every other anesthesia school in the nation. Part of the subterfuge includes claims that they reflect the highest godly standards and that they are “a leader” within the academia of anesthesia education. However they may portray themselves -- it’s all a deception.
As has already been dealt with in this blog, the insularity of MTSA is part and parcel to what makes their delusion operate. It’s unlikely they’d be able to get away with their mode and manner of conduct were it not for that. They tout the fact that they are the only free-standing anesthesia school in the nation as something grandiose and wonderful. I’m sorry. I’ll call this one as I see it – it’s a load of crap! “Whooo hooo! Yippee! No one else is like us!” Why is that supposed to be such a big freaking deal!? Is that something to be proud of? Let’s take a quick look at how different #69 is when compared to the top schools in the nation. Recently The Blogger did some research. The top 20 schools were contacted and asked a variety of questions; one of which regarded class size. Interestingly, when compared to these schools #69, MTSA, was shown to have a class size between 2 and 6 times larger than the top 20 schools. Some sources say that the administrators would like to see a class size of 100! Now, this begs the question, What in the world is going on over there? Why would a school in the bottom 3rd of the national rankings have a class size bigger than all the top schools? Indeed, the class size of MTSA is bigger than the class size of the top 3 schools combined!!!! Despite the complaints of instructors, alumni, and others, MTSA has opted for quantity above quality. They are attempting to educate 2-6 times more students than any of the other top schools all the while having, comparatively speaking, very little educational resources. And they actually have the audacity to portray themselves as leaders in anesthesia education despite the fact that these top schools have leaders that are the best of the best in nurse anesthesia. The credentials of these administrators are very, very impressive. They have scores of publications, textbooks, research, and degrees to their credit all of which serve to enhance their credibility and define them as leaders and educators within these top-ranked schools. True to the fashion of Madoff and Abagnale, the administrators of MTSA come up short in this department. When juxtaposing their credentials and degrees alongside those of John Nagelhout, director of the program at Kaiser Permanente, whose textbook is used across the country, or of any of the others listed in the top 20 we find the administration of MTSA to be sorely lacking. Between the President and Dean of MTSA: a few degrees (none from any top-ranked schools), no known affiliations or memberships with professional organizations or entities, no cited research, and no known publications. So here’s the picture: MTSA is not affiliated with any entity or University; the administrators of the school have, when compared to the top schools, very little in the way of credentials, not even close when compared to the top 20 schools; they have contributed nothing significant to the profession of nurse anesthesia in the way of research, the President is not a CRNA, they are working only 4 days a week, graduate 2-6 times more students than any top school, thumb their nose at the Board, the alumni, and all CRNAs in Nashville, AND yet maintain they are a leader in anesthesia education all the while reflecting Christ. I would really like to believe that the President and Dean have taken that phrase “Do more with less” to new and lofty heights. However, for me, it is very difficult to believe that the administrators of a 69th ranked school with few credentials between the lot of them are able to achieve what the best schools in the country cannot or will not. When looked at critically we simply find that something is terribly amiss at MTSA. Are they crazy? Can they just not help what they do because of some pathologic disorder? Well . . . I can answer the first question affirmatively! However, other questions need to be answered: Why is the class size so large? Is it for the money? Why would they choose to be so out of step with every other school of anesthesia? Since we already know that teaching anesthesia is secondary to the primary goal of sharing the doctrines of their church, maybe it’s so they can expose more people to their religion. There is nothing straightforward about MTSA and for that reason alone the answers to these questions are likely to be something really goofy. A quote from one of my favorite movies seems appropriate here: “Go sell crazy somewhere else. We’re all stocked up here!”
