In the age of information, why do so many people keep getting away with living like real-life Pinocchio? Why do people still fall for the con? In his latest Inc article, BigSpeak EVP Ken Sterling teaches readers how to spot manipulation and catch someone in a lie. He delves into ancient philosophy and the dark side of ethos, pathos, and logos to help you pick apart those stories that are just a little too good to be true. To read the full article, click here. 

Previously published on Inc

Here’s How to Spot the Charlatans, Con Artists, and Politicians Getting Away With Crazy Lies.The dark side of ethos, pathos, and logos.

In the age of information, why do so many people keep getting away with crazy lies? Why do people still fall for the con? 

We know that a con is a deception. However, the term “con artist” or the original term “con man” was originally based on “confidence man.” In other words, it was a person who initially instilled confidence in the listener by building trust. Then they leveraged that trust to take advantage of their victim. Us, in other words.

How did they do this? We just need to look back a few thousand years for the answer.

Charlatans Steal From the Fathers of Philosophy and Use the 3 Pillars of Rhetoric

Harkening back to the days of the ancient philosophers–Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates–they believed the tools of rhetoric in the wrong hands could provide an unfair advantage to the speaker. That is, if you could master rhetoric, you could persuade people to your point of view and if your intentions weren’t honorable, that could be harmful

Rhetoric is built on the three pillars of persuasion: ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic). Good con artists deceive us by first establishing credibility (ethos), then sharing a story that appeals to your heart (pathos), and finish with a takeaway (logos) that appeals to your head.  

For example, think about that time you actually bought that thing or almost bought that thing. The person on the other end probably told you that other credible people liked it, they probably told you it was going to make you feel better, and they threw in a statistic, right?!? And if they were really scammy, they probably said, “I only have a few left and you need to decide now…” 

Now let’s look in detail how charlatans use each pillar to try and scam you.

Charlatans Build Credibility With a Large Number of Followers

Charlatans establish credibility by using the concept of social proof. What’s social proof? According to Robert Cialdini, author of the bestselling book Influence, social proof works like this. If someone we know believes or does something, we are more likely to believe or do it too. This is why we are persuaded by reviews with many high ratings on Amazon or Yelp. Or why we believe social media influencers.

Social media influencers establish credibility by having a large number of followers (who may or may not all be real), or because they reference another well-known and “credible” person as their friend or colleague. (Politicians do this all the time too when a famous person endorses them). These influencers also can “@mention” other credible people in their posts or reply to a credible person’s post and re-share the post, in an attempt to appear more credible themselves.

So when an influencer says something, people see those large number of followers or famous friends and accept this as social proof of the credibility of what the person is saying. 

However, we wouldn’t believe what they say as much if they didn’t use pathos.

Charlatans Tell Moving Stories

We all love a good story. Especially, if that story makes us feel something and confirms what we already believe. And charlatans are nothing if not good storytellers. 

As negotiation expert Alex Carter says, the bestselling author of Ask For More, a negotiation is a conversation in which you are steering a relationship. Con artists steer the relationship with you by telling a moving story.

For example, politicians tell you something bad will happen if their opponent gets into office and something good will happen if they are voted in. Con artists will tell you a story about how someone like you made a lot of money by doing the very thing they offered. Or they were cured of a disease, made stronger, thinner, etc.

One of the reasons these stories work so well is that few people fact-check what they already believe (or want to believe).

Con Artists Use Simple Logic

Call it the “Wikipedia” or “YouTube” generation, or just human nature, people want quick answers, and it if it’s published on the internet, or said by someone famous or by someone with a million followers, then it must be true. Call it simple logos.

And to be perfectly blunt, charlatans don’t need to be masters of logic because few people fact-check anymore.

However, if you want to detect a lie according to negotiation expert Christopher Voss, the bestselling author of Never Split the Difference, try to have the con artist agree three times in a conversation. It’s hard to fake conviction three times. Likewise, it’s hard for a statement to be true if it isn’t verified in three different places on the internet.

Even though this is the age of information, social media has made it easier for charlatans, con artists, and politicians to push crazy lies. All you need to have is a lot of followers and a moving story because no one fact-checks anymore. So if you want to be one of the few who sees behind the curtain, then understand how the ancient pillars of rhetoric–ethos, pathos, and logos–are being used to sell you a story that’s too good to be true.