In case any of you were wondering at why so many people seem to fall for about any line that scammers throw out there,
some of the amazing stats in this article may offer a partial explanation.
1 in 4 believe Obama may be Antichrist
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In case any of you were wondering at why so many people seem to fall for about any line that scammers throw out there,
some of the amazing stats in this article may offer a partial explanation.
1 in 4 believe Obama may be Antichrist
I am amazed at some of the comments that people are posting with respect to Profitable Sunrise and Banners Broker, they seem to blame everyone and everything except the criminals that stole their money. PS really seems to have a religious and anti government paranoia that only fuels the blame of anyone other than "Roman". And this thinking extends well beyond Ponzi and Pyramids, there are plenty of folks on the airwaves with the sole purpose of generating conspiracies because it is a pathway to millions of dollars.
When Charles Ponzi was arrested way back in pre-interweb days he certainly had his defenders. I wonder if the internet exacerbates a type of "group think" that allows cons to spread in a way never seen before since you literally have cyber communities for any interest. Tap into that community and their wallets are easily opened. Certainly, others can use the internet to do research and sites like this to draw good conclusions. But for every one of those people, there seem to be 10 who get an "urgent" email and forward it on without a second thought if it is true. With some people I fear they are so far gone they will fall for one scam and then another.
The people that populate these scams provide an interesting insight into how cults evolve.
It is an old, old story which has been beautifuly illustrated by Hans Christian Anderson's tale. The story of "The Emperor's New Clothes." It only takes one small voice to prick the bubble! Carry on RS!Quote:
Originally Posted by laidback
That portion of population is, for lack of better word, "self-selecting", much like those Nigerian Scam Spam is aimed at people who are too dumb/naive to spot the scam. (see Microsoft funded study)Quote:
Originally Posted by ribshaw
It's been theorized that conspiracy theorists have an imbalance in their brain, in that their "connection seeker" (the portion that seeks connections between events) is overdeveloped while their logic center (that checks if the connection actually exists) is UNDERdeveloped. Before modern tech, they would be the ones advancing superstition, like the sun and moon are influcing event X and person Y.
Most of us have a balance between the two.
The opposite of conspiracy theory is analysis paralysis... way too much logic, not enough parallel / outside the box thinking. (i.e. not enough connections, too much logic). It's interesting that many MLMers love to portray us, the critics, as paralyzed by analysis, doesn't it? They are the polar opposite: jump in with both feet, never mind logic, go with "feeling" or "gut instinct".
If they are willing to believe "get rich quick is easy", it takes little logic to convince them "government's against us", "we're backed by God almighty", never mind the real evidence(s) pointing the other way. Sunken Cost (I am already committed and don't want to change), True Believer (I believe no matter what you say, real or not), and ego defense (critics insulted his ego by criticizing what he liked) then take over (plus group speak, if the individual is weak willed).
It will take a huge cognitive dissonance to shake them out of their la-la land, and maybe not even then, esp. if they are still enthralled by group speak.