The Neurological Basis of Con Games 218
Hugh Pickens writes "If we humans have such big brains, how can we get conned? Neuroeconomist Paul J. Zak has an interesting post on Psychology Today in which he recounts how he was the victim of a classic con called 'The Pigeon Drop' when he was a teenager and explains how con men take advantage of the Human Oxytocin Mediated Attachment System, called THOMAS, a powerful brain circuit that releases the neurochemical oxytocin when we are trusted and induces a desire to reciprocate the trust we have been shown. 'The key to a con is not that you trust the con man, but that he shows he trusts you. Con men ply their trade by appearing fragile or needing help, by seeming vulnerable,' writes Zak. 'Because of THOMAS, the human brain makes us feel good when we help others — this is the basis for attachment to family and friends and cooperation with strangers.' Zak's laboratory studies have shown that two percent of the college students he tested are 'unconditional nonreciprocators' who have learned how to simulate trustworthiness and would make good con men. Watch a video of Skeptics Society founder Michael Shermer running the classic pigeon drop on an unsuspecting victim and see if you wouldn't be taken in by a professional con man yourself."
Re:Explanation (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, that's originally a George Carlin joke.
And when most people retell it, they inevitably get into a geek debate about mean vs. average.
Re:It's all about greed (Score:5, Informative)
Believe me, there are plenty of other people out there who are willing to con you that don't rely on your greed.
Care to point some of them out?
The Craigslist Bad Check scam [consumeraffairs.com], where the con sends a check for several thousand more than the asking price. They'll email you saying that their secretary made a mistake, but they trust you, so go ahead and cash it and send back the difference. It's a bad check, of course, but your bank won't notice for a few days, and then they'll hold you responsible for the difference, plus the check you just sent back.
The mark isn't working on greed. They don't expect to get anything more than the original asking price. The con works purely on feelings of trust.
Re:Explanation (Score:1, Informative)
I think you meant: mean vs MEDIAN.
(By the way, Wikipedia says that mean, median and mode are all types of "averages", so in that sense "average person" is correct, although it's not particularly precise.)
Re:Uh... (Score:5, Informative)
I would bet there is a set of cons that hit smart people harder.
You mean something like this stuff? [wikipedia.org]. Richard Feynman once observed that some smart people get taken because they don't want to believe they can be fooled. He was referring to people fooled by Uri Geller. He said he was different because "I'm smart enough to know that I'm dumb". Which is one of my favorite quotes of anything.