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Current time: March 28, 2024, 8:49 am

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Ethics of con artists
#21
RE: Ethics of con artists
(October 6, 2021 at 10:48 am)Spongebob Wrote:
(October 6, 2021 at 10:17 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Sorry, the use of ‘hesitate’ is simply an expression. Please take it to mean, ‘I wouldn’t call this behaviour “ethical” even if my only alternative was to be stripped naked, covered in brown gravy, and dropped into a pit of starving, rabid ferrets.’

I apologize for any confusion.

Boru

OK, darn.  I thought I detected a hint of an idea there.  So to address some who consider gullibility a justifiable reason to con someone, what about the more sophisticated cons out there.  These people are getting more and more complex.  Is it ever justifiable to take advantage of someone's confidence?  To put another way, to steal someone's money by misleading them?  I suppose I was raised on a culture where being honest in one's business was as important as being honest in any other pursuit.

You've never had a job as a lawyer, sales or in advertising have you? Specifically advertising is designed to trick people into spending more money. Is it ethical?
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post

always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
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#22
RE: Ethics of con artists
(October 7, 2021 at 3:09 pm)tackattack Wrote:
(October 6, 2021 at 10:48 am)Spongebob Wrote: OK, darn.  I thought I detected a hint of an idea there.  So to address some who consider gullibility a justifiable reason to con someone, what about the more sophisticated cons out there.  These people are getting more and more complex.  Is it ever justifiable to take advantage of someone's confidence?  To put another way, to steal someone's money by misleading them?  I suppose I was raised on a culture where being honest in one's business was as important as being honest in any other pursuit.

You've never had a job as a lawyer, sales or in advertising have you? Specifically advertising is designed to trick people into spending more money. Is it ethical?

No, no and no.  And yes, I'm aware that advertising & marketing are simply devices used to sell products/services.  I don't find it particularly ethical to misrepresent those products.
Why is it so?
~Julius Sumner Miller
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#23
RE: Ethics of con artists
I'm not talking deceptive. I'm talking outright psychological tricks to make you think you're not being influenced. Isn't that the whole idea of a con, three card monte anyone?

https://disruptiveadvertising.com/market...eting-tips
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post

always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
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#24
RE: Ethics of con artists
(October 7, 2021 at 3:55 pm)tackattack Wrote: I'm not talking deceptive. I'm talking outright psychological tricks to make you think you're not being influenced. Isn't that the whole idea of a con, three card monte anyone?

https://disruptiveadvertising.com/market...eting-tips

Oh, yeah.  I wasn't thinking about those kinds of things.  Good link, btw.  It's a different kind of thing for sure, sort of like hacking the human mind.  I don't think they are so much a con but they are certainly manipulative and they do work.  I've read studies about some of these.  So yeah, they are a form of a confidence game, but totally accepted by society.  Or I suppose society just doesn't realize they exist.
Why is it so?
~Julius Sumner Miller
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#25
RE: Ethics of con artists
It's ironic, because that's the fundamental value of a brand. That a customer doesn't feel like they're playing product roulette every time they buy a box of cereal or open a can of green beans.
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#26
RE: Ethics of con artists
So then why are certain cons accepted by society and others are offensive? Mentalists and magicians have been using the same tricks street cons and pickpockets do. What makes one acceptable and the other not, is it really just intent? The magician gets paid for showing you tricks, the con artist gets paid when he hawks your stuff. Is there that much of a difference?
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post

always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
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#27
RE: Ethics of con artists
I honestly believe it's all about indoctrination. True honesty does not exist in our society/culture. When people speak about truth and honesty in such a frank way, they are rewarded with gasps of horror. Consider our justice system, for example. It is anything but. In most cases it is reduced to a system where the police round up the most likely suspects and railroad them into submission with exaggerated charges so the department can report its great success at curbing crime. Trials are little more than kabuki theater. Police departments are havens of violent & fearful officers. But when one speaks of these things, all you get in response is that you're a bleeding heart. So I think our culture prefers to be in the dark about some things and enjoys the pretense of knowing things they don't actually know.
Why is it so?
~Julius Sumner Miller
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