A con/scam succeeds not by convincing people to believe what the conman wants but instead by convincing the “mark” to feel that something they want to believe is true. The people who now feel they were duped/taken might want to do some self reflection trying to figure out what about themselves and/or their situation might have contributed to not being able to see what was really happening.
This is a really interesting point. On the one hand, people should not feel ashamed to admit they were conned. If a con-man is very, very good, they can get away with a lot. And I mean a
lot. Being conned does not imply some kind of personality defect on the part of the conned person. It's not a weakness in my view. It's more a sign of the skill of the con-man.
On the other hand, there are interesting ideas related to human nature that can be explored when examining how con-men work. Let me talk about my own personal experience, though I fortunately was not conned into buying any AV321 gear.
I'm an electrical engineer, and I got into the field because of my interest in audio in the 1970s. This was back when people like David Hafler were coming out with equipment that exchanged spartan appearance and "no more fancy than absolutely needed" industrial design for the best possible electrical performance that could be had for the price. I hold this philosophy in high esteem. But high-end audio now is all about half-inch thick front panels and fancy industrial design, often disguising mediocre electronic design, or even fraudulent design concepts based on fad rather than solid engineering. This disgusts me. Also, I am the kind of person who tends to think the worst of people. I have to catch myself constantly to prevent myself from judging those around me unjustly. I'd like to think I'm too smart to be conned. Wrong!
Now I see a video of Mark Schifter on the Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity site, and I am really impressed. He invokes the memory of David Hafler, and through his explanations of how reduced costs can be realized by manufacturing in China, even while treating the workers there well, a win-win situation can be realized. I'm convinced this guy holds the key to re-living the Hafler legacy and bringing high-end audio back into the hands of the average joe the way it used to be in the 1970s. I bought into it. I thought he was actually the David Hafler of the 21st century. Basically, I bought into a total line of hogwash.
I suspect if I saw that video again, and found out the facts of all the products he was talking about, that most of these so-called products would turn out to be vaporware and BS. But I didn't have the benefit of knowing about him then, when I saw the video. And where would I get such information? From threads like this.
So to all you people out there, even the most die-hard cynics, you are not immune to being conned. And if you were conned, there is no shame in it. The shame rests entirely with the con-man.
