How Stories Deceive

Maria Konnikova · 29 Dec 2015

The piece opens with

Being immersed in a story lowers our guard, which is what makes stories a powerful tool of deception.

Their wordsThat’s precisely why they can be such a powerful tool of deception. When we’re immersed in a story, we let down our guard.

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Maria Konnikova did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Being immersed in a story lowers our guard, which is what makes stories a powerful tool of deception.

Their wordsThat’s precisely why they can be such a powerful tool of deception. When we’re immersed in a story, we let down our guard.
Our reading
When people are swept up in a powerful narrative, their reason often falls by the wayside.

Their wordsAzzopardi’s frauds relied on a quirk of human nature: when we become swept up in powerful narrative, our reason often falls by the wayside.
Our reading
Emotion is the key to empathy: stir people emotionally and they identify with you; keep them cold and empathy does not grow.

Their wordsEmotion is the key to empathy. Arouse us emotionally and we will identify with you and your plight. Keep us cold, and empathy won’t blossom.

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