The Long Confidence Trick On Consciousness

For thousands of years,
humanity has been tricked into believing
that we have no authority and must be led.

We lack confidence because we do not know.
Once we know, we can never not know.

If we leave others to know for us,
we are forever dependent on them.

The confidence trick = being led to believe.

If we don’t see the distraction coming, we will never be prepared. When we are prepared, there is no problem. The shock is realising that our whole life has been a confidence steal, when we have been led only to BELIEVE rather than to know.

The following description of ordinary, worldly deception is taken from Wikipedia, but it applies perfectly to the distraction of consciousness as well:

“A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence,  irresponsibility and greed. It is fraudulent conduct intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial, as they benefit the con operators (‘con men’) at the expense of their victims (the ‘marks’). When accomplices are employed, they are known as shills.

“Short cons to long cons:
A short con or ‘small con’ is a fast swindle which takes just minutes, possibly seconds. It typically aims to rob the victim of money or other valuables which they are carrying on their person or are guarding. (TB: This also applies to the mental interaction called the art of persuasion.)
A long con or ‘big con’ is a scam that unfolds over several days or weeks (or centuries). It may involve a team of swindlers, and even props, sets, extras, costumes, and scripted lines, and aims to rob the victim of huge sums of money or valuables (TB: or their mind).

Stages
“In ‘Confessions of a Confidence Man’, Edward H. Smith lists the six definite steps or stages of growth of a confidence game. He notes that some steps may be omitted. It is also possible that some can be done in a different order than the one shown, or be carried out simultaneously.

Foundation work

Preparations are made in advance of the game, including the hiring of any assistants and studying the background knowledge needed for the role.

Approach

The victim is approached or contacted.

Build-up

The victim is given an opportunity to profit from participating in a scheme. The victim’s greed is encouraged, such that their rational judgment of the situation might be impaired.

Pay-off or convincer

The victim receives a small payout as a demonstration of the scheme’s purported effectiveness. This may be a real amount of money or it may be faked in some way (including physically or electronically). In a gambling con, the victim is allowed to win several small bets, while in a stock market con, the victim is given fake dividends.

The ‘hurrah’

A sudden manufactured crisis or change of events forces the victim to act or make a decision immediately. This is the point at which the con succeeds or fails. With a financial scam, the con artist may tell the victim that the ‘window of opportunity’ to make a large investment in the scheme is about to close forever.

The in-and-in

A conspirator – who is in on the con but is assuming the role of an interested bystander – puts an amount of money into the same scheme as the victim to add an appearance of legitimacy. This can reassure the victim, and give the con man greater control when the deal has been completed.

(TB: All of the above certainly apply to social media when people fall for a meme, and jump on the bandwagon.)

“In addition, some games require a ‘corroboration’ step, particularly those involving a fake but purportedly ‘rare item’ of ‘great value’. This usually includes the use of an accomplice playing the part of an uninvolved, initially skeptical, third party, who later confirms the claims made by the con man.

Vulnerability factors

“Confidence tricks exploit typical human characteristics such as greed, dishonesty, vanity,  opportunism, lust, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, desperation, and naïvety/fear.

“As such, there is no consistent profile of a confidence trick victim; the common factor is simply that the victim relies on the good faith of the con artist. Victims of investment scams tend to show an incautious level of greed and gullibility, and many con artists target the elderly and other people thought to be vulnerable, using various forms of confidence tricks

“Cons succeed by inducing judgment errors, chiefly, errors arising from imperfect information and cognitive biases. In popular culture and among professional con men, the human vulnerabilities that cons exploit are depicted as ‘dishonesty’, ‘greed’, and ‘gullibility’ of the marks.

“Dishonesty, often represented by the expression ‘you can’t cheat an honest man’, refers to the willingness of marks to participate in unlawful acts, such as rigged gambling and embezzlement.

“Greed – the desire to ‘get something for nothing’ – is a shorthand expression of the marks’ beliefs that too-good-to-be-true gains are realistic. Gullibility reflects beliefs that marks are ‘suckers’ and ‘fools’ for entering into costly voluntary exchanges, and judicial opinions occasionally echo these sentiments.”

It’s clear how complex and subtle this whole game is …

We are so infected that there is literally one sucker born every minute,
while there are those who lie in ambush.

People are gullible, and evil knows this.
People go to war – but whose war?

Once we ‘know’, we can never not know.

Be prepared … for a auspicious, favourable and happy new year!