Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by kellykferguson
The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time by Maria Konnikova
4.0
I’ve never been the victim of con, but I have conned myself. After reading this book, I know why I kept trying to “make it” in a band despite clear signs to the contrary. It’s the same reason you stay in that relationship. The reason your friend who always seemed so smart and reasonable keeps sinking money into her MLM. It’s called cognitive dissonance + the psychology of sunk costs.
Konnikova explains the psychological phenomena behind the bad choices people make as she breaks down the elements of the con, while telling the stories of cons. I enjoyed the book. I'm also the person who takes notes while watching Leverage and White Collar.
I often got lost in the listing of names, cons, and researchers. (Which is actually a con technique, overwhelming the mark). I wish the editor had suggested giving full names more often instead of pronouns, and more reminders about the people she was referencing. I couldn't keep track.
Big picture wise, I would have liked more zoom out, more reasons WHY we, as a culture, are set up for cons. Not to bring the neoliberal capitalist industry complex into this review, just when we were having a perfectly lovely morning, but our American culture sells us the con of upward mobility every day. No wonder we invented Amway.
I also wish the author had speculated more on how con artists are born. Both the psychology of the con artist and the knowhow. It’s not as if con artists get their degrees from con school, unless you count the Wharton School of Business—hahahahahaha.
But really, how is it con artists know how to find marks, set the bait, tell the tale… etc.? And what’s the deal with Nigeria? Why is it the OG country of cons? Last week I received my first AI-generated letter from a Nigerian who had clearly plugged my academic bio into a program. He just wanted a conversation, y'all. About my McSweeney's piece, "Murder Mystery or Career in Academia?" Aw.
If you're interested in the cons the way I am, you'll enjoy the book. But you have my permission to skim towards the end.
Here's yet another book where I blame the editors. Konnikova had the idea, did the research and can tell a story. For the book to gel she needed an outside eye to let her know where first-time readers would bog down.
Konnikova explains the psychological phenomena behind the bad choices people make as she breaks down the elements of the con, while telling the stories of cons. I enjoyed the book. I'm also the person who takes notes while watching Leverage and White Collar.
I often got lost in the listing of names, cons, and researchers. (Which is actually a con technique, overwhelming the mark). I wish the editor had suggested giving full names more often instead of pronouns, and more reminders about the people she was referencing. I couldn't keep track.
Big picture wise, I would have liked more zoom out, more reasons WHY we, as a culture, are set up for cons. Not to bring the neoliberal capitalist industry complex into this review, just when we were having a perfectly lovely morning, but our American culture sells us the con of upward mobility every day. No wonder we invented Amway.
I also wish the author had speculated more on how con artists are born. Both the psychology of the con artist and the knowhow. It’s not as if con artists get their degrees from con school, unless you count the Wharton School of Business—hahahahahaha.
But really, how is it con artists know how to find marks, set the bait, tell the tale… etc.? And what’s the deal with Nigeria? Why is it the OG country of cons? Last week I received my first AI-generated letter from a Nigerian who had clearly plugged my academic bio into a program. He just wanted a conversation, y'all. About my McSweeney's piece, "Murder Mystery or Career in Academia?" Aw.
If you're interested in the cons the way I am, you'll enjoy the book. But you have my permission to skim towards the end.
Here's yet another book where I blame the editors. Konnikova had the idea, did the research and can tell a story. For the book to gel she needed an outside eye to let her know where first-time readers would bog down.