America: land of possibility. And also: land of suckers. <\/p>\n
Our enduring belief that anything is possible \u2014 whether based in reality or not \u2014 has helped the nation become the world\u2019s largest economy. It has also led us to fall head over heels for hucksters and charlatans, again and again. <\/p>\n
If so much is possible here in America, who is to say it\u2019s not possible that the next new supplement, device or scheme might make you young, strong, rich or all of the above, all at once?<\/p>\n
In 1897, a Baptist minister convinced us that his company could extract gold<\/a> from the seawater near Lubec, Maine. A company called Bailey Radium Laboratories in East Orange, N.J., introduced a hit product in 1925 called Radithor<\/a> that it advertised as \u201ca cure for the living dead\u201d that could restore vitality and cure impotence.<\/p>\n There was no gold in Maine\u2019s seawater. And Radithor didn\u2019t turn people into Adonis; it poisoned them with radiation.<\/p>\n Americans have been suckered by fraudsters so bold that their schemes are now part of everyday speech. <\/p>\n America brought us Clark Stanley, the Rattlesnake King, who sold us what he called \u201csnake oil liniment\u201d that promised to remedy \u201cpain and lameness, for rheumatism, neuralgia, sciatica, sprains, bunions,\u201d cure \u201cpartial paralysis of the arms and lower limbs\u201d and \u201creduce large joints to their natural size.\u201d America created Charles Ponzi, who could deliver you 50% profit in just 45 days<\/a> by investing in stamp coupons. <\/p>\n These old examples are easy to laugh at or be mortified by, but we should be careful: We are as willing as ever to believe claims that, when subjected to even a modicum of common sense, seem ludicrous. Raw milk has special powers? Can peptide make us young again? A blast of vitamins through an IV can flush out your hangover?<\/p>\n Why do we keep falling for this stuff? There\u2019s a simple, poignant reason: \u201cPeople really don\u2019t want to die.\u201d <\/p>\n So says Dr. Lydia Kang, author of a book on medical fads called \u201cQuackery\u201d and associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. There\u2019s a desperation to it. \u201cEverybody has a deep wish to have a long and fruitful life,\u201d she says, \u201cwithout disability or pain and with your brain intact.\u201d<\/p>\n Other experts say there are sociological and evolutionary reasons to be attracted to outlandish and even disproved claims.<\/p>\n This is not uniquely American, of course. But these instincts and tendencies are amplified in America, with its relentless optimism, its spirit of individualism, its lightly regulated capitalism, its desperate ambition to get richer or healthier or prettier, and a desire to get in on the action driven by suspicion: Others surely have gamed the system, so why can\u2019t I? <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sort of a Wild Wild West cowboy situation,\u201d Kang said. \u201cPeople are like, \u2018Well, if you\u2019re not going to do it, I\u2019m going to do it myself.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n The truth often doesn\u2019t matter<\/p>\n When we fall for claims or cling to beliefs after they\u2019ve been disproved, we\u2019re not necessarily being stupid. <\/p>\n We don\u2019t have beliefs to create an accurate representation of the world, said Tali Sharot, a neuroscience professor at University College London. Instead, she said, it\u2019s simply \u201cto have beliefs that will get us the most rewards and help us avoid harm. And sometimes those beliefs are the accurate ones, but sometimes they\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n Overconfidence, for example, can land you a mate or a job you aren\u2019t qualified for, she said. People can get a sense of community, support and belonging by believing what others in a group believe. \u201cIf it\u2019s a false belief, it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Sharot said. <\/p>\n Believing that vaccines cause autism, despite conclusive evidence that they don\u2019t, gives families and loved ones something to blame and provides them with support from a group that shares in their anger, fear and pain. <\/p>\n And hope and belief can provide optimism that things could get better, which can in turn at least temporarily improve mood and mental health. \u201cBelieving that your future will be better than the past and the present \u2014 even if your future will not be better,\u201d Sharot said, \u201cMany times can be optimal.\u201d<\/p>\n The lottery is almost guaranteed to lose you money \u2014 it\u2019s a terrible financial decision. People know this. But they also know that a lottery ticket is a little slip of hope, a chance to imagine a richer future. \u201cWhat you buy for sure is kind of the fun of thinking about it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is something that you are guaranteed to get.\u201d<\/p>\n Our thinking is similar when it comes to the supplements, balms and techniques that promise benefits that are extremely unlikely to materialize. On one hand, they are a tragic waste of hard-earned money and sometimes have negative side effects. On the other hand, \u201cyou gain something from trying,\u201d Sharot said, like positive anticipation or excitement.<\/p>\n Hope produces hype<\/p>\n But these tendencies leave us open to exploitation by companies that want our money. And they are really good at what they do.<\/p>\n Throughout U.S. history, there is a clear pattern: A hint that something might work opens a crack in a door that companies barge through, capturing the desperation \u2014 and the paychecks \u2014 of people who are hurting, tired or scared.<\/p>\n Dr. Benjamin Rush, a Philadelphia physician who signed the Declaration of Independence, was frustrated by his inability to save people during a yellow fever epidemic in 1793. He then read autopsy reports that suggested purging and bloodletting could help. So he took it to an extreme, giving the sick high doses of calomel and jalap \u2014 a mercury compound and the powdered root of a Mexican plant that together make an extremely potent laxative \u2014 while aggressively draining their blood. According to one account<\/a>: \u201cSo much blood was spilled in the front yard that the site became malodorous and buzzed with flies.\u201d<\/p>\n