There is an excellent article at skeptic.com that ties in to my previous post about how cognitive biases contributed to the Madoff investment fraud.
Stephen Greenspan, author of the new book Annals of Gullibility, describes how he was taken in by Madoff. He describes four factors which contribute to gullible action: situation, cognition, personality, and emotion.
The article is a wonderful read and nicely links these four factors to the author’s personal Madoff experience. I’ve spent much time focusing on the connections between cognition and situation and enjoyed Greenspan’s discussion of the important roles of personality and emotion. His arguments are persuasive and have inspired me to dig deeper into the research on the emotional factors.
I’ve also been inspired to buy his book so I guess I am one data point to demonstrate the effectiveness of articles as marketing for books.
Well played Mr. Greenspan!
