
Born to Be Conned - kawera
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/opinion/sunday/born-to-be-conned.html
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eric_h
I liked how this article started out talking about interesting anecdotes of
people being conned and very gracefully transitioned to the longest running
cons in the world (organized religion).

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eric_h
Now that I think of it - I think this article itself is a great example of a
short con.

You start reading it, convinced that it's an interesting story about how easy
we humans are convinced of falsehood by a good tale told by a very small
portion of the population who are excellent liars and exploitative criminals.

All of a sudden, the topic is deftly repointed to the subject of religion,
something that the current global majority does not believe is a lie.

And I didn't even realize it until about 30 mins after I read it!

Very well done.

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EliRivers
_All of a sudden, the topic is deftly repointed to the subject of religion,
something that the current global majority does not believe is a lie._

They kind of do, though. If you take a religious person, they will (unless
they're some kind of polyglot religious type) tell you that the vast majority
of all the religions that have ever existed were a lie. 99% of them. More than
that. They'll tell you that very nearly every religion, ever, is a lie.

~~~
dragonwriter
"Incorrect", perhaps. The number that would say "a lie" about nearly every
religion, ever, is considerably smaller.

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ZeroGravitas
Is it just me or does the physicist flying to meet the south american model
fall into the "can't con an honest man" bracket that the author thinks often
doesn't apply? He must have noticed that attractive models in his own country
weren't lining up to date him, so what did he think was going on here?

The art dealer story had a similar ring, and they mention Bernie Madoff in
passing, someone who was beating the market for years, which apparently most
clients assumed meant he had access to info to use for insider trading.

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jakejake
I was thinking the same thing about all of them except the girl who's
boyfriend fabricated his life story for her.

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mentat
This article about the Dove ad is still a brilliant more direct discussion on
how people are broken:
[http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2013/05/dove.html](http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2013/05/dove.html)

~~~
cousin_it
TLP is brilliant as usual, but seems a bit depressed to me. The message "stare
hard at the painful reality instead of comforting lies" might not be good
advice for many people, especially us geeky folks who are already biased
toward taking ugly truths too seriously.

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josscrowcroft
_"... as more of the world is explained — and ends up being not so divine
after all ..."_

I don't understand this sweeping statement by the author (who seems between
the lines to be struggling with her own issues of faith and belief, and hence
had to write a book about how gullible humans are).

Is she saying that something, once explained, can no longer be divine?

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gnoway
I think you're putting words in her mouth, so to speak. That paragraph begins
by repeating a statement about God being found in the cracks between
knowledge. I know I've read this elsewhere, it's not a new idea. The rest of
the paragraph just restates this in a way that I think is very fair.

My direct answer: yes. IMO divinity is just magic backing a particular
narrative. As we discover and accept alternative explanations for why things
are the way they are, that magic disappears and the narrative loses power.

~~~
mjklin
> God being found in the cracks between knowledge

See here:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps)

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chris_wot
This article would be far more interesting if it showed ways of picking out
inconsistencies even when embroiled in blind belief.

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burkemw3
Does the article explain what the play on Joan was? I can't find it.

My guess is get close enough to find the personal details necessary for
identity theft.

Long cons like that fascinate me. Such a large investment, especially of time,
with real risk!

~~~
knughit
Maybe nothing more than the pleasure and value of her company (and share her
wealth), just someone who wanted a mate and bluffed about his accomplishments.

The same con that spouses around the world play.

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joshu
As the connectedness of the world increases, we are all going to have to
improve our epistemological immune systems.

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s_kilk
Ah, the oldest profession in the world: Fleecing Rubes.

~~~
chris_wot
Yes, but it's saying we are all rubes.

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xweb
The author is "Maria Konnikova"...seriously? ...hmmmm...

