'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes • Hacker News Board

Re: 'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes

#181

Post by upupupandaway » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 4:33 PM UTC

covercash wrote: post #22

sschueller wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet people who met her were stupid enough to think she is some kind of genius and gave her millions of dollars. Sometimes I think if Charles Manson started a startup instead of killing people he would have had millions in investments and be praised as some sort of wunder kind...

Or Charles Manson could weasel his way into existing startups, claim them as his own, become the richest man in the world, AND kill so many more people than he ever thought possible!

What?

Re: 'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes

#182

Post by cowsandmilk » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 4:35 PM UTC

jiaosdjf wrote: post #55

nl wrote: post #4

> But the more Holmes talks to Fielder, the more he teases out her unhinged rationale, which is: The device works fine! We just had to figure out that pesky chemistry stuff! The strange thing is that Holmes has such a corporate mindset that she treats the chemistry stuff…that hadn’t been invented yet…as just another glitchy small problem that could easily be solved The difference between science and engineering right…

And yet somehow what she did still isn't as bad as what every private equity form on Wall Street gets away with daily. There's no excuse for defrauding investors, but at least the "aim" was to produce a product that, if it actually had worked, would have been medically revolutionary. I don't even believe that she went in on scam from the start, she must have at least genuinely believed, no matter how nonchalant, that…

She gave people medical test results that were incorrect. Say what you want about PE, the medical diagnostics firms they own provide accurate test results to patients.

Re: 'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes

#183

Post by Obscurity4340 » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 4:36 PM UTC

ddmf wrote: post #14

There was some major tension in the trailer - I can't believe that's actually Elizabeth Holmes, but seeing her I can see how she managed to win over so many - she is very intense.

She seem deeply creepy, like she would immediately harvest your organs if it only required a simple finger prick

Re: 'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes

#184

Post by js2 » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

saimiam wrote: post #3

Who’s “Bobby” mentioned in the article? Did the writer just mix up Billy Evans with Bobby?

Article has been corrected to Billy everywhere Bobby previously was.

Previously: https://archive.ph/sSnek

Corrected: https://archive.ph/k3Hnl

Re: 'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes

#185

Post by sschueller » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

upupupandaway wrote: post #181

covercash wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or Charles Manson could weasel his way into existing startups, claim them as his own, become the richest man in the world, AND kill so many more people than he ever thought possible!

What?

Elon's DOGE is responsible for over 100k deaths. Some died a horrible death with medical devices stuck in them because there was no one to remove them after all funding was instantly cut. One of the most inhumane and disgusting acts in history.

Re: 'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes

#186

Post by upupupandaway » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 4:38 PM UTC

DarmokTanagra wrote: post #44

Imagine a world where we held Musk to the same standard as Holmes.

Holmes and Musk are not even close to being the same. Don't let politics cloud your reason. Musk under-delivers some times but what he's done with SpaceX and Tesla is concrete, massive innovation.

Re: 'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes

#187

Post by ProllyInfamous » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 4:38 PM UTC

moffkalast wrote: post #30

qoez wrote: post #21

"That’s part of its appeal — it’s a one-of-a-kind reality-TV-as-hangout-movie psychodrama circus" This is fable level unreadable to me

At least it's not opus level unreadable amirite?

It's "cringe" for the sake of cringe.

–Unc

Re: 'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes

#188

Post by slg » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 4:38 PM UTC

tdb7893 wrote: post #94

xyzelement wrote: post #13

I have a distinctive memory about Theranos from business school - so circa 2013 a few years before it blew up. Some professor was going on and on about Holmes for being a young, female, founder. It stood out at the moment as weird because the praise was separate from success or outcomes or like brilliant science. It was all about the identity: gender and age. I wonder if the reason the scam went so far as it did beca…

The general scam of unrealistic promises then under-delivering is such a well worn trope that while gender surely played a part in it (as it is a big part of social perceptions in general) I hesitate to blame it here. I think for anyone who has been in tech for a while it doesn't take an imagination to picture a man doing pretty much the same thing

"The general scam of unrealistic promises then under-delivering" is how the richest man on the planet amassed his wealth. OP is doing the exact same thing he's accusing other people of doing, focusing too much on identity.

Holmes surely used her gender as a tool the same way all these striving psychopaths will use whatever is at their disposal, but if it wasn't her gender, it just would have been something else. And singling out her gender as uniquely responsible will do more harm than good as it will be used as a cudgel against all future women founders in a way someone like Musk or Sam Bankman-Fried won't for men. Or maybe this early xkcd[1] put it better.

[1] - https://xkcd.com/385/

Re: 'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes

#189

Post by ProllyInfamous » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 4:40 PM UTC

vintagedave wrote: post #123

For those who are experts on body language, non-verbal communication, psychological communication tricks, etc -- what on earth are we seeing in that trailer?

She really wants you (and Nathan) to believe Her.

Re: 'You Can See Everything' Review: Nathan Fielder's Doc About Elizabeth Holmes

#190

Post by cyanydeez » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 4:42 PM UTC

xyzelement wrote: post #13

I have a distinctive memory about Theranos from business school - so circa 2013 a few years before it blew up. Some professor was going on and on about Holmes for being a young, female, founder. It stood out at the moment as weird because the praise was separate from success or outcomes or like brilliant science. It was all about the identity: gender and age. I wonder if the reason the scam went so far as it did beca…

Yeah, the same for POTUS. scams are best lead by people who both wNt to believe and hangerons that want to profit on the grift. In isolation, its typically just a cult. Throw in capitalism and suddenly, theres real stakes around the belief.