The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time

“Rationality, and its departure”
Konnikov, aside from having the PERFECT name to tackle this topic, is a talented writer. She is conversational without being too present (in that creepy, uncle-at-your-bedroom-window kind of way) and knowledgeable about the history of cons and cognitive science behind how they work and why we fall for them. She tackles the fascinating subject with the perfect blend of engaging writing, rigorous research and guilty appreciation for con men (and they are almost all men, apparently) and their devious trade.She uses plenty of historic examples of memorable and lucrative cons, as well as some painfully recent examples (Madoff, for example), strategically stretching them out across chapters to make this a borderline page-turner, as I always wanted to find out how badly the marks would be taken and if the cons ever got their comeuppance. I also appreciated the thought that went into the overall structure (the sure sign of a writer who understand the psychology of storytelling), organizing the chapters around the components of a big con — the put-up, the rope, the send, etc. — which is a great way to seed the lingo and reinforce just how complicated a con is and just how much they rely on instinctive (or learned) understanding of deep psychological concepts.Cons can only work because we humans are, mostly, wired to trust. “We are so bad at spotting deception because it’s better for us to more trusting. Trust, and not adeptness at spotting deception is the most beneficial path.” For such social, collaborative creatures, trust is vitally important to work together. And cons take advantage of that.Cons, it seems, are wired a little differently than most, often scoring high on the “dark triad” of personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. That leaves them self-interested and joyously amoral. Luckily, evolution has seen to it that those who possess those and other maladaptive traits ever only exist in relatively small numbers, or else risk dragging the whole species down into oblivion. “Calculated nonchalance [regarding moral imperatives] is only an adaptive strategy when it’s a minority one.” Otherwise, we’d all be so busy fleecing each other and exacting revenge, the human race might just flicker out.So, along with exploitable trust, add in greed, an overwhelming desire to feel special and a few other psychological traits like “egocentric anchoring” (“We assume that other know what we know, believe what we believe, and like what we like.”) and “the mere exposure effect” (familiarity breeds affection), and the stage is set for being suckered.The part that resonated the most with me is how victims of cons often fall for a scam because of a shared predilection of all humans — our love of stories. Our brains are wired to receive information in story form, and cons are really just an elaborate, and expensive, form of story-telling that puts the victim in the center of a new and interesting universe where it makes perfect sense that they can get money for nothing or that they are of the blood line of an ancient religious order and must liquidate their resources to go on the run. It’s exciting! People want to feel special, and stories about them are the best ways to make that happen, lowering defenses and loosening purse strings in the process.And we especially love a good story that resonates with our core beliefs. “Why form accurate judgments when the inaccurate one make our life far more pleasant and easy?” Easy because we don’t have to challenge our long held assumptions (such as the fact that we really are special). The comforting story soothes away the cognitive dissonance because, “when a fact is plausible, we still need to test it. When a story is plausible, we often assume it’s true.”And cons often invoke “information priming” which exploits “the ease that comes from familiarity. Mention something in passing, and when you elaborate on it later – especially if it’s a few days later – it seems that much more convincing. It’s a phenomenon known as the illusion of truth: we are more likely to think something is true if it feels familiar.”And that goes double if that something has emotional appeal. “Our emotional reactions are often our first. They are made naturally and instinctively, before we perform any sort of evidence-based evaluation.” In other words, “Con men … are likewise expert at rapidly involving greed, pity and other emotions that can eclipse deliberation and produce an override of normal behavioral restraints.”Equal parts journalism and psychology, the end result is a riveting look at what it takes to convince people to, against all their better instincts, act against their own self-interest.

Entertaining and informative
We’re treated to examples of and the rationale behind real life “cons” in such chapters titled The Put-Up, The Play and The Rope. There is also a chapter at the book’s end highlighting the (real) oldest profession. Hint: It’s not prostitution. The common denominator in all these cons is the incredible gullibility of the “mark” or the person who is conned. But what about the con man (it’s almost always a man) who commits these white collar crimes? The true con man doesn’t force us to do anything; he makes us an accomplice in our undoing. For me, the first chapter was most illuminating. The author presents the findings of psychologist Robert Hare who has done considerable work analyzing personal characteristics of con men. These features can be grouped in three categories: psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. Under the first, the con man exhibits no remorse for his actions, shows pathological lying, is manipulative, is promiscuous, and displays superficial charm. Under narcissism, he has an exalted sense of entitlement, self-enhancement and an overly inflated sense of self-worth. He’s the center of the universe. Finally, Richard Calhoon, a marketing professor at the University of North Carolina, goes further and describes the Machiavellian as someone who employs aggressive, manipulative, exploiting, and devious moves to achieve personal and organizational objectives. It’s no stretch that all the above traits can be ascribed to the man who recently settled a lawsuit for twenty-five million dollars rather than risk impeachment and removal from office.

It is really a remarkable work on the psychology of the con: a necessary read for anyone who doesn’t want to end up a sucker in one of these games, but also very instructive read all around. And all the well researched stories of conmen make it even more entertaining!

Entrega rápida pero el libro es como leer una enciclopedia.