Gladwell points out that a certain kind of rare individual is not hardwired to assume everyone is honest and truthful. A certain personality type goes against the grain—what Gladwell calls the “truth-teller.” These individuals “are not part of existing social hierarchies.”13 Thus, they “are free to blurt out inconvenient truths or question things the rest of us take for granted.”14 In the tale The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson, the little boy is the truth-teller. While everyone else plays along with the naked king, the boy blurts out, “Look at the king! He’s not wearing
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