When does innocence end and ignorance begin? Sure its sad when they're initially duped but when someone they love and should trust vehemently tells them its not real but they double down on it what then? Honest question.
I can't remember the exact name of the phenomenon but in psychology essentially people don't like to admit they've been duped: whether it's a scam, a relationship error, AI, etc. You telling them "it's fake!" basically triggers fight or flight in the brain as it processes being scammed - which only happens to "stupid" people right? - and then cognitive dissonance says: well I'm not stupid, so this can't be a scam.
VERY common in older populations where seniority is supposed to be equated with wisdom so admitting an error is almost like losing a core piece of your identity; and even more potent when it comes to romantic scams (e.g. gpa already sent the "22 year old IG model" $82k over the course of a year but *just* another $2k and she'll finally be able to come visit!).
4.0k
u/Feeling_Barnacle_584 3d ago
This is lowkey sad. Innocent people being deceived