You'll love the New Yorker story http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/05/15/060515fa_fact Why do educated knowledgeable people (like the neuroscientist who diagnosed Ronald Reagen's Alzheimers) fall for such transparent scams? Why do they encounter the unraveling and the disastrous consequences of the scam with yet increasing manifestations of belief? The story leads us to ponder the origins of human gullibility. One commentator on the story said it is the consequence of a peculiarly American set of attitudes: "Follow your dream!" "Go for it! Working and wishing will make it so." However, people from other countries and cultures fall for these scams too. Some blame a Christian mindset, and a predisposition to believe in miracles. I think the behavior, at least in the case of the man in the New Yorker story, has nothing to do with greed or the expectation of rewards. I think it is simply addictive behavior, like a gambling addiction. Compulsive gamblers aren't really driven by the prospect of winning in the long run--- their experience has shown them that today's winnings are tomorrow's losings. It's not the expectation of rewards that drives them. It's the action. -- __________________________________________________________________ Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves. ---------------William Pitt the Younger