If someone in a powerful position acts in a certain way or expresses a certain view, we implicitly assume that those actions and views are associated with power, and that emulating them may be to our advantage. Maria Konnikova Read Quote
Creativity requires novelty. Imagination is all about counterfactuals and untested possibilities that don’t yet exist. Maria Konnikova Read Quote
Writer’s block has probably existed since the invention of writing, but the term itself was first introduced into the academic literature in the nineteen-forties, by a psychiatrist named Edmund Bergler. Maria Konnikova Read Quote
Las vegas shouldn’t exist. The incongruity hits you from the moment you first glimpse it from the airplane. First mountains, then desert, then neat squares of identical houses that look as if they were plucked straight from Monopoly. Maria Konnikova Read Quote
Fraternities breed leaders. That, at least, is what most any chapter website will tell you, in not so many words – and the message certainly makes for a compelling rationale for joining the Greek system. Maria Konnikova Read Quote
Benign envy can sound a lot like admiration. The difference is that, while admiration feels good, envy is painful. Maria Konnikova Read Quote
Humans are startlingly bad at detecting fraud. Even when we’re on the lookout for signs of deception, studies show, our accuracy is hardly better than chance. Maria Konnikova Read Quote
Fraud really thrives in moments of great social change and transition. We’re in the midst of a technological revolution. That gives con artists huge opportunities. People lose their frame of reference for what can and can’t be real. Maria Konnikova Read Quote
Stories bring us together. We can talk about them and bond over them. They are shared knowledge, shared legend, and shared history; often, they shape our shared future. Maria Konnikova Read Quote
That’s the power of the good con artist: the ability to identify your deepest need and exploit it. It’s not about honesty or greed; we are all suckers for belief. Maria Konnikova Read Quote
