Where do con men come from?
There are three conditions that need to be met:
First, there needs to be rising societal pressure to get ahead, cut the line and find a win.
Second, there needs to be people willing to set aside their ethical principles to take advantage of others in their community.
And third, we need to be lulled into a state of unjustified credulity, eager to believe that seeds might be magical or that motion might be perpetual.
While all three of these conditions are present throughout time, they go in cycles.
And we’re having one right now.
We’re far too tolerant of ridiculous promises, particularly around tech, money and leadership. And instead of quickly learning to become a bit more skeptical, we get caught in a cycle of letting the con man (person, actually) off the hook.
Inevitably, when it ends badly, we overreact and become too risk averse, costing us nearly as much with our skepticism.
If someone tells you that they forgot to put the word ‘gullible’ in the new edition of the dictionary, don’t dismiss them out of hand, but yes, check first.