The Confidence Game by Maria Konnikova
7 out of 10Wouldn't it be great if we were better at identifying someone trying to deceive us? Actually, no. According to Konnikova, we have many biases that can be exploited by skilled con artists (who can be grifted by other confidence men), but the biggest bias is toward hope. Optimism is too valuable for our lives and our evolutionary success to trade it for cynicism.
Are cult leaders, Ponzi schemers, identity thieves and street hustlers born sociopaths? "Nature loads the gun. Nurture pulls the trigger." Deception becomes addictive. Scammers get better with practice and it gets very tempting to see how far a scam will go.