Library:The Confidence Game
| The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It … Every Time | |
|---|---|
| Author | Maria Konnikova |
| First published | 2016 |
| ISBN | 978-0-525-42741-4 |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | Crime & Public Safety Business, Finance & Scams |
| Tactics | Fraud or Scam |
The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It … Every Time is a 2016 book by Maria Konnikova.
Summary
Maria Konnikova, a psychologist and writer with a doctorate from Columbia University, published this book in 2016. It updates the study of con artists for a modern audience by combining case histories with research from psychology, and it asks why people, including intelligent and experienced people, fall for confidence tricks.
Built on the old structure
Konnikova organizes the book around the classic stages of the con, many of them first recorded in David Maurer's The Big Con: the put-up, in which the con artist selects a victim; the play, which builds trust; the rope; the tale; the convincer; the breakdown; the send; the touch; the blow-off; and the fix. Each chapter uses one stage to explore the psychological weakness it exploits.
The stories
The book draws on a wide range of cases, from historic impostors to modern fraudsters. One of its central figures is Ferdinand Waldo Demara, known as "the Great Impostor," who successfully posed as a monk, a teacher, a prison warden and a surgeon in the Canadian navy, where he operated on wounded sailors. Konnikova uses such stories to show that cons depend less on cleverness than on understanding what people want to believe.
Why we fall
Konnikova argues that being conned is not a matter of stupidity. Con artists exploit universal features of human psychology: the need to trust others, the desire for a story that makes sense, optimism about our own prospects, and the belief that we are better judges of character than average. Ironically, people who believe they cannot be fooled can be especially vulnerable.
The aftermath
One of the book's most striking themes is what happens after a con. Many victims never report the crime or refuse to accept they were deceived, because admitting it would mean accepting they were fooled. Some even return to the same con artist. This helps explain why fraud is underreported and why con artists can repeat their schemes.
Beyond fraud
Konnikova suggests that the dynamics of the con extend beyond crime, into marketing, politics and everyday persuasion, wherever someone builds trust in order to exploit it.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
The book explains the psychology behind the Fraud or Scam tactic and helps explain why people defend false beliefs after they are exposed. Its point that the victims of deception are often embarrassed rather than grateful when it is revealed is worth keeping in mind for how the site corrects claims.