hoaxes can teach us
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:01 pm
A common question I am asked regarding 'cult' activity is how do people get duped into such seeming nonsense? I reverse the question by pointing out that all people rely on and tend to believe to some degree the evidence as presented, even very smart people. A good way to prove this is to look at the history of hoaxes. Check out A&E's American Justice: The Quiz Show Scandal and Other Frauds DVD
"From Tawanna Brawley to the famous Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950s, examine some of the most famous hoaxes in recent history. From simple greed to marketing strategies, a desire for fame or fear of getting into trouble, explore the surprising reasons these hoaxes were perpetrated, and how they were uncovered. Herbert Stempel was a contestant on the popular '50s game show Twenty-One, who suspected the fix was in. Here, Mr. Stempel recalls the amazing succession of events he caused, which ended with nearly all of the popular game shows of the day being taken off the air amid revelations that they were rigged. Clifford Irving had a deal to sell the "authorized" biography of Howard Hughes a sure-fire bestseller to McGraw Hill, but was exposed by Hughes himself. Mark Hoffman was a noted rare documents dealer who was really one of the most accomplished forgers of recent memory..."
http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=74731
This episode features many good examples of how easily the public can be fooled, like the Tawanna Brawley hoax that took in many Black leaders including Rev Sharpton. A Black teen was out late and faked that she was raped in the woods to get sympathy from her abusive father (the man killed his former wife). Her mother believed her and the event snowballed into a year long high level investigation. In the end a Black journalist thoroughly exposed the hoax, the Grand Jury proclaimed that the evidence proved that Tawanna had perpetrated it but Tawanna and mom continued to claim the story was true. Tawanna's position is not unlike that of many cult leaders.
Guy Ballard and his wife Edna were readily exposed in the late 1930s as hoaxers who created the stories about meeting ascended master Saint Germain on Mt Shasta, yet they persisted to the end in their claims. Might their persistence have to do with all the money and adulation the Ballards continued to receive from true believers?
"From Tawanna Brawley to the famous Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950s, examine some of the most famous hoaxes in recent history. From simple greed to marketing strategies, a desire for fame or fear of getting into trouble, explore the surprising reasons these hoaxes were perpetrated, and how they were uncovered. Herbert Stempel was a contestant on the popular '50s game show Twenty-One, who suspected the fix was in. Here, Mr. Stempel recalls the amazing succession of events he caused, which ended with nearly all of the popular game shows of the day being taken off the air amid revelations that they were rigged. Clifford Irving had a deal to sell the "authorized" biography of Howard Hughes a sure-fire bestseller to McGraw Hill, but was exposed by Hughes himself. Mark Hoffman was a noted rare documents dealer who was really one of the most accomplished forgers of recent memory..."
http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=74731
This episode features many good examples of how easily the public can be fooled, like the Tawanna Brawley hoax that took in many Black leaders including Rev Sharpton. A Black teen was out late and faked that she was raped in the woods to get sympathy from her abusive father (the man killed his former wife). Her mother believed her and the event snowballed into a year long high level investigation. In the end a Black journalist thoroughly exposed the hoax, the Grand Jury proclaimed that the evidence proved that Tawanna had perpetrated it but Tawanna and mom continued to claim the story was true. Tawanna's position is not unlike that of many cult leaders.
Guy Ballard and his wife Edna were readily exposed in the late 1930s as hoaxers who created the stories about meeting ascended master Saint Germain on Mt Shasta, yet they persisted to the end in their claims. Might their persistence have to do with all the money and adulation the Ballards continued to receive from true believers?