Active Thinking Topic 95 - Daily Deceptions - A Sucker Is Born Every Minute 8 & 12 November 2024 [* sucker = a gullible person, someone who is easily deceived or exploited] Recommended viewing: Alexis Conran (26 Jul 2019) "The Superpower of the Conman" TEDx @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF5CE2zrATc [Key principles of deception: 1. Misdirection (esp pickpockets) 2. Time pressure (urgency) 3. Opportunity (good deal syndrome-something for nothing ) 4. Social compliance (fooled by authority badges/symbols) ] Talking Points: 1. So when were you last taken for a sucker :) ? 2. Why do con-men (confidence tricksters) succeed so often? 3. We have all been conned at some time, though some of us more often than others. What is the state of mind which leaves a mental door open for the con-man to walk in? 4. Advertising/marketing dogma they teach in universities politely calls marketing the science of fulfilling human needs & wishes. It is really the art of finding suckers? Think of some examples. 5. If voters are suckers, what can be done about this? Politics, as sold to the public (=> 'retail politics') usually claims to represent the wishes of the public, though you can't please everyone. In USA, just 4% of Congressional legislation is actually aimed at public needs. 6. In your opinion, what proportion of dating, sex etc satisfies the wishes & needs of both parties? How much of it is a game to catch a sucker? 7. Scams on the Internet are spreading like mushrooms. Which scams do you consider the most dangerous? Why? 8. Many service professionals (e.g. doctors, lawyers, bankers, real estate agents ... etc) depend for some purposes, some of the time, one deceiving clients. When is this acceptable. When does it shade into criminality? 9. A recently created word in English is "sheeple". This means people behaving like sheep. How does this property of human behaviour become a gift for con-men, scammers, grifters, politicians, religious & ideological manipulators etc? Examples? 10. The parasites who are for con-men, scammers, grifters, politicians, religious & ideological manipulators etc have always been amongst us, and always will be. Can education immunise large populations against this kind of abuse, or is it a hopeless cause? Extra Reading & Viewing Alexis Conran (26 Jul 2019) "The Superpower of the Conman" TEDx @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF5CE2zrATc [Key principles of deception: 1. Misdirection (esp pickpockets) 2. Time pressure (urgency) 3. Opportunity (good deal syndrome-something for nothing ) 4. Social compliance (fooled by authority badges/symbols) ] [Thor: This is very, very good] Jim Dale (Jan 2012) "There is a sucker born every minute" - SASproductionz 1019, Track number 2 of the BARNUM OST. [*Lyrics Below] 2:25 min @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_siQqiT48Tc Eric Davies (31 Dec 2012) "The Biggest Con Job in World History - Wall Street!" @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhB_cTbwfQQ [TM comment: A damning account of the US 2008 financial crisis. .. It is not over, just paused. The predators who set this up are still in Wall St and the US Congress. The suckers who lost all their money in sub-prime loans are the same type of suckers, half of the US voting public, in the MAGA cult. ... A mirror image of this trickery is playing out in China]. (3 hours)] Johnny Bawlz (2023) "A sucker born every minute" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Eu1PzgSHKaA [.. an AI video created from US presidetial phrases] NBC News (5 Jun 2023) "How con artists win over trust: ‘You get to create a reality for other people to live in - With trust in institutions eroding — and the internet providing new opportunities to scam — grifters are showing up everywhere". @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=madzylPij9Q [12 minutes] Judgejp (12 Dec 2010) "Ex-con Seeks Job Advice from Judge Pirro". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQI-yQwF1WY Tim Winton (October 30, 2024) "Billionaires and lobbyists have seized control of our national narrative". The Age @ https://www.theage.com.au/national/billionaires-and-lobbyists-have-seized-control-of-our-national-narrative-20241028-p5klz6.html [Quote: "... our chief storytellers are not novelists. They’re PR hacks and lobbyists. As evangelists of hardline, anti-social economic theory, they spin yarns of self-interest for oligarchs. The think tanks funded by these billionaires, and the lobby-mills they employ, are how vested interests enthral our policymakers and achieve state capture." ] Thor May (2015 ) "The Unexpected Power of Stupidity". @ http://thormay.net/unwiseideas/stupidity.htm [Quote: "Stupidity turns out to be complicated. Stupidity in its many guises does more damage on a daily basis than generations of clever ideas have ever been able to cope with. Human stupidity ranges all the way from planetary destruction to self mutilation by vengeful individuals cutting off their own nose to spite their face. Given the scale of stupidity’s ravages, it is a matter of wonder that it attracts so little systematic public research under its own name."] Thor May (2014) "Fakes, liars, cheats, deceivers, animals in the forest." @ http://thormay.net/unwiseideas/FakesLiarst.htm [Quote: "Fake it 'till you make it is a much advertised nostrum. Well, anyone who is not pathologically naive and who has encountered the corporate-speak of today's urban living knows that the fake-it meme is already in the DNA of most institutional critters, large and small. The only news is that this virus might also be deployed by bus drivers and check-out girls. With this in mind, the essay takes the fake-it topic beyond some simple self-trickery sold as positive thinking, and looks at various extended mutations inside and outside of the law."] Make your own clickbait: David Morgan (Mar. 8, 2024) "6 Best Thumbnail Maker Apps to Quickly Create Thumbnails for YouTube" Cyberlink @ https://www.cyberlink.com/blog/app-photo-editing/1335/best-thumbnail-maker-apps ----------------- Daily Deceptions - A Sucker Is Born Every Minute (c) Thor May 2024
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