conning people

Phineas T. Barnum wrote that the people 'enjoy being bilked', that they actively like being tricked into paying for something that fails to come up to their expectations. How can this be so? It certainly defies the dry abstract analysis of the average economist...But the reason is simple. The half of us that is still a child engages a belief in the impossible. This is the part that is childish and not childlike, the part that wants to believe a drop of yoghurt culture will turn a lake into yoghurt. But that's impossible- I know, they reply, but just imagine if it worked! And that cosy dreamlike image- and it could be of anything- is what that half of us desires. But when the talking monkey or the man with two heads is proved a con, the other half, the pessimistic cynic can take over and say, "I told you so". Alternating between credulity and cynicism describes the voting public- but both attributes share a common feature- a lack of real world experience, digested real world experience. People who go from chlldhood dreams to fearful pessimism have to find a way to re-engage with experience. Sometimes this can happen by travelling, but not always.