JUDGMISNT

No one likes

feeling st-upider

^{than the next}

person.

^The

hick, tiwn,

^istomake your victims

feel

smart——-andnot

just

^{smart, butsmarter}than you^am. Onceconvinced

of

this, they

^willnever

suspect

^{that you} may have ulterior motives.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In thewinter of 1872,^{the U.S.} financier

Asbury Harpending;

^was

visiting

Londonwhen he received^acable: A diamondminehadbeen discovered inthe American West. The cable came from ^a reliable source—-William

Ralston,

^{owner ofthe} Bank of Califomia—-but

Harpending

nevertheless tookitas a

practical joke, probably inspired by

^{the recent}

discovery

^of

huge

^{diamondmines inSouthAfrica.}

^True,

^when

reports

^{had firstcomein}

of

gold being

^{discoveredinthewesternUnited}

States,

everyone had been

skeptical,

^andthose had turnedout to betrue. Butadiamondmineinthe West‘

Haipending

^{showed the cable to} his fellow financier Baron Roth schild

(one

^ofthe richestmeninthe

world), saying

^itmustbea

joke.

^The

baron, however, replied,

^{“Don’tbetoosure} about that.America isavery

large country.

^Ithas furnished the world with many

surprises already.

^Per-

haps

^{ithasothersinstore.”}

Harpending promptly

took the first

ship

^back

totheStates.

When

Harpending

reached San

Francisco,

^{therewas anexcitementin} theair

recalling

^theGoldRush

days

^ofthelate 1840s.Two

crusty

prospec- torsnamed

Philip

^{Arnold and}

john

Slack had been the^onestofind thedi- amondmine.

They

^hadnot

divulged

^its

^location,

ⁱⁿ

Wyoming,

but had led

.

aliighly respected mining expert

^toitseveral weeks

back, taking

^acircular

routesohe could notguess his whereabouts. Once

there,

^the

expert

^had watched^astheminers

dug

updiamonds. BackinSan Francisco the

expert

had takenthe_gemstovarious

jewelers,

^one of whom hadestimated their worthat

$15

^million.

Ha:-pending

and Ralston^nowasked Amold and Slacktoaccompany them backtoNew

York,

^{where the}

jeweler

^Charles

Tiffany

^would

verify

the

original

^{estimates. The}

prospectors responded uneasily--they

^smelled

atrap:^Howcould

they

^mustthese

city

slickers? Vifhat if

Tiffany

and the fi- nanciers

managed

^tosteal the wholemine outfrom under them? Ralston tried to

allay

their fears

by giving

^them

$100,000

^and

placing

^another

$300,000

^inescrowfor them. If thedealwent

through, they

^{would be}

paid

anadditional

$300,000.

^Theminers

agreed.

The little group traveled^toNew

York,

^wherea

meeting

^washeldatthe

mansionof Samuel^L.Barlow. Thecreamof the

city’s aristocracy

^wasinat-

tx-,ndance——General

George

^Brinton

^McClellan,

commander of the Union forcesinthe Civil

War;

^General

Benjamin ^Butler;

^Horace

Greeley,

^editor

of thenewspaper^{theNew Ybrk}

Tribune; Harpending; ^Ralston;

^and

Tiffany.

Only

Slack and Arnold^were

missing—-as

tourists inthe

city, they

^{had de-}

cidedtogo

sight-seeing.

When

Tiffany

announced that the gems^werereal and worth^a.

fortune,

the financiers could

barely

control their excitement.

They

wired Roth-

_, schild and othertycoons^to tell them about the diamondmineand

inviting

them to share in the investment. At the same time,

they

^{also told the}

prospectors

^that

they

^{wantedone moretest:}

They

^{insistedthata}

mining

^ex-

I

pert

^oftheir

choosing

accompany Slack and Arnold^tothesiteto

verify

^its

' wealth. The

prospectors reluctantly agreed.

^{In the meantime,}

they ^said,

Now.tlnm: isnothing of^{whicha munis} prouder^thanof^Imel- iecvuulubiliIy,for^11is this thatgives^{him his’}

mmmarzding plan:^In the animal world. 1:is ane.rz:eerIingIy^rush thing^tolet anyone^we (ha:_youaredecidedly 3:upcriur10him^in[his respect, and^toletother people^seeittoo.... Hence,while rankand riciies mayalways

reckon upondeferen- Iialrreamzmrinsncirrzy;

that^iss()mc,'2’hiIIg^u,hin'z inzeitrrctmilability^can

neverexpect:^Tobe ignored^{isthegrecltcsl} favour^rliowri10it;^and ifpr-‘opts^{rwlice itatall,}

itislwcauscthey regard^{Ifas a}pI'.c’r‘eof impertmrmrr,^orelseas

$(>metIn'ng^tnwhirl:its p:n:¢e.v.s'rn'^[msnolegiti-

marcright,and upon which he daresInpride hirIm’If.'^andinremind- lionand_revengefor hisconduct,people soc-rellyIrvam! lzunn'ii- alehill!insomeother way.’ andif they^waitto dothis,^1'115only for⁴¹ fittingoppm'mm'iy.^A

manmay be rLHm!11bIv asp().s'.riI7lcii1^his ilemcunour.andye!

/mrdly^evergetpeople

tooverlook his crime inxru/irling^imeI[ecm- allyabove them. In the Garden ofRoses.Sadr‘

make-5thz: remark.-

"You shouldknowthat

fuoli.s‘]1[imply^{an! a} humiredfnlzi^mon-

uwerse 10meeting^(he wire thanI/In’ wise areirutir/:<m’ci /or (he_companyof

mefoolish."

LAW 21 15?‘

()n (heother/mm].Iti.\' 11rml remrrinwmlulirm tobestupizl.For m.s.‘tz/1.x‘

wumulzisagrcrtuh/¢'^to the(Indy.^.\'l7it rlmtv the mindgum!^lofeel^its

\'upz'Vmri!y.'^and41man will seek<'Im1])unV

likely^togive^{him I/nix‘}

fwlnzg,^usinmmzrvcly

ushe Willuppruuc/1^the _firr'plm*v^orwalkmthe

.\‘IlVlif^{hewarns to}get

warm.Bu!llzlrmcam‘

thatIn: will be ills/ikurl

rmtlttffltttllufhixsupe- riority;^umi1'/cl^manix /0be Iilrml.hemm‘!

really^bein/'eriurⁱⁿ pain!ofinrcllecl.

ARI Hi ZR SrII(wl~.N|IAL=|~:R.

l7h‘2*l~l?<(»()

158 ¹ LAW 21

they

^hadto return to San Francisco. The

jewels

^that

Tiffany

had examined

they

^{left with}

Harpending

^for

safekeeping.

Several weeks

later,

^amannamed Louis

Janin,

^{the best}

mining expert

in the

country,

^{met the}

prospectors

ⁱⁿ San Francisco.

_]ani.n

^{was a born}

skeptic

^{whowasdeterminedtomake surethattheminewas nota fraud.}

Accompanying janin

^were

Harpending,

and several other interested fi~

nanciers.As with the

previous

expert,^theprospectors^{led theteam}

through

a

complex

^seriesof canyons,

completely confusing

^themastotheir where abouts.

Arriving

^atthe site,the financiers watchedinamazementas

janin dug

^theareaup,

leveling ^anthills, turning

^over

boulders,

^and

finding

^emer-

alds, rubies, sapphires,

^{andmostof alldiamonds.The}

dig

^lasted

eight days,

and

by

^the

^end,

^wasconvinced: Hetold theinvestorsthat

they

^now

possessed

the richest field in

mining history.

^{“With a hundred men and}

proper

machinery,"

^hetold

them,

^“Iwould

guarantee

^{tosendoutonemil}

liondollarsindiamonds every

thirty days."

Returning

^toSan Franciscoafew

days

^later,

Ralston, Harpending,

^and

company acted^fasttoforma

$10

^million

corporation

^of

private

^investors.

First, however, they

^hadto

get

^{rid ofArnoldandSlack.Thatmeant}

hiding

their

excitement—they certainly

^did not want to reveal the field’s real value. So

they played

possum. Who^{knows if}

_]anin

^is

right, they

^{told the}

prospectors,

^{the mine}may^notbe asrichaswe think. This

just

^{made the}

prospectors

angry.

Trying

^{adifferenttactic,}the financiers told thetwo^men thatif

they

^insistedon

having

^sharesinthemine,

they

would end up

being

fleeced

by

^the

unscrupulous tycoons

^{andinvestorswho wouldrunthecor-}

poration; better, they ^said,

^{to take the}

$700,000 already

offerecl—an^enor»

mous sum at the time—and

put

^their

greed

aside. This the

prospectors

seemedto

understand,

^and

they finally agreed

^totakethe money,^{in return}

signing

^the

rights

^{tothesiteovertothe}

financiers,

^and

leaving

maps^{to it.}

News of the mine

spread

like wildfire.

Prospectors

^{fanned out across}

Wyoming.

^Meanwhile

Harpending

and group

began spending

the millions

they

had collected from theirinvestors,

buying equipment, hiring

^{the best}

meninthe

business,

^and

furnishing

^{luxuriousofficesinNew}York and San

0

Francisco.

Afew weeks

later,

^ontheir first

trip

^{backtothe site,}

they

learned the hardtruth: Nota

single

^diamondor

ruby

^{wastobefound.Itwasallafake.}

They

^weremined.

Harpending

^had

unwittingly

lured the richest men in the worldintothe

biggest

^scamofthe

century.

Interpretation

Arnold and Slack

pulled

^{off their}

stupendous

^connot

by using

^afake

engi-

neeror

bribing Tiffany:

^{Allof the}

experts

^{hadbeen real.All ofthemhon-}

estly

^{believed in}the existence ofthe ^mine andin the value ofthe gems.

What had fooled them allwas

nothing

^{elsethanArnold and}Slack them- selves. Thetwomenseemed^tobe such

rubes,

^such

hayseeds,

^sonaive,that

no one for an instanthad believed them

capable

^{ofan audacious scam.}

The

prospectors

^had

simply

observed the law of

appearing

^more

stupid

than the mark-—the deceiver’s First Commandment.

The

logistics

^{of theconwere}

quite simple.

^Monthsbefore Arnoldand Slack announced the

“discovery”

of the diamond mine,

they

^traveledto

Europe,

^where

they purchased

^somereal gems for around

$12,000 (part

^of

the money

they

^{had saved from their}

days

^as

gold miners). They

^then

salted the “mine” with these gems, which the first

expert dug

up ^and

brought

^{toSanFrancisco.The}

jewelers

^whohad

appraised

these stones,^in»

cluding Tiffany ^himself,

^hadgotten

caught

upⁱⁿthe fever and had

grossly

overestimated their value. Then Ralston gave the

prospectors $l00,000

^as

security,

^and

immediately

^aftertheir

^trip

^toNewYork

they simply

^wentto

Amsterdam,

^where

they bought

^{sacks ofuncut}gems, before

ramming

^to

San Francisco. The second time

they

^{salted the} mine, ^{there were} many

more

jewels

^tobefound.

The effectiveness ofthe

scheme, however,

^{rested not on} tricks like these but^onthe factthatArnold and Slack

played

^their

parts

^to

perfection.

On their

trip

^{to New}

York,

^where

they mingled

with millionaires and

ty—

coons,

they played

up their

clodhopper image, wearing

pants^{andcoats a} sizeortwo toosmalland

acting

incredulousat

everything they

^sawinthe

big city.

^{No onebelievedthatthese}

country simpletons

^could

possibly

^be

conning

^themost

devious, unscrupulous

financiers of thetime. Andonce

Harpending, ^Ralston,

^{andeven Rothschild}

accepted

^{the mine’s existence,}

anyone^whodoubteditwas

questioning

^the

intelligence

^{of theworld’smost}

successful businessmen.

Inthe

end, Harpending’s reputation

^{wasminedandhe}never recov-

ered;

Rothschild learnedhis lesson and^never fell for another_con; Slack took his money and

disappeared

^{from view, never to} be found. Arnold

simply

^{wenthome to}

Kentucky.

^After

^all,

^his sale of his

mining rights

^had

been

legitimate;

^the

buyers

had taken the best

advice,

^{and iftheminehad}

runoutof

diamonds,

^{thatwas their}

problem.

Arnold used the money^to

greatly enlarge

^{his farmandopen upabankofhisown.}

KEYSTO POWER

The

feeling

^{thatsomeoneelseismore}

intelligent

^{thanwe areisalmostin-}

tolerable.We

usually

try^to

justify

^{it indifierent}ways: ^“He

only

^{has book}

knowledge,

^{whereas Ihavereal}

knowledge.”

^“Her

parents paid

^{for herto}

get

^a

good

^education.If myparents^{had hadas}much money, if I had been

as

privileged.

^{. ..” “He’snotassmartas}he thinks.” Last butnotleast: “She may know her^narrowlittlefield better than I

do,

^but

beyond

^{that she’sre-}

ally

not smart atall. Even Einstein^wasaboob outside

physics.”

Given how

important

^{theidea of}

intelligence

^{isto most}

people’s

^van-

ity,

^{it iscritical never}

inadvertently

^{toinsult or}

impugn

^a

person’s

^brain

power. That^isan

unforgivable

^sin.Butifyou^canmakethis iron rule work for you,^itopens up all^sortsofavenuesof

deception. Sublirninally

^reassure

people

^that

they

^{are more}

intelligent

^{thanyouare,or even that youarea}

bit of^amoron,and you^{can run}

rings

around them. The

feeling

of intellee tual

superiority

you

give

^themwill disarm their

suspiciorrmuscles.

In 1865 the Prussian councillor Otto^vonBismarck wanted Austriato

LAW21 _; I59

I60 ³ LAW 2]

sign

^acertain

treaty.

^The

treaty

^was

totally

^inthe interests ofPrussiaand

against

^{the interests of}

Austria,

^andBismarck would have to

strategize

^to

get

the Ausmanstoagree^toit But the Austrian

negotiator,

^Count

Blorne,

wasanavid

cardplayer.

^His

particular

game^was

quinze,

^{and heoftensaid}

thathe could

judge

^{aman’scharacter}

by

the way ^he

played quinze.

^Bis-

marck knewofthis

saying

of Blome’s.

The

night

^{before the}

negotiations

^wereto

begin,

^Bismarck

innocently engaged

^Blomeinagame^of

quinze.

^ThePrussian would laterwrite,^“That

was the very last ^time I ever

played quinze.

^I

played

^so

recklessly

^that

everyone^wasastonished.Ilostseveral thousand talers

[the

currency of the

time],

^{butIsucceededin}

fooling [Blome],

for he believed^meto bemore venturesomethan I ^amand Igave

way.”

^Besides

appearing reckless,

^Bis- marckalso

played

the witless

fool, saying

^ridiculous

things

^and

bumbling

about witha

surplus

^ofnervousenergy.

All this made Blome feel he had

gadiered

valuable information. He knewthat Bismarckwas

aggressive———the

^Prussian

already

^{had thatreputa-}

tion,and the way he

played

had confirmedit.And

aggressive

^men,Blome

knew,

^canbe foolish and rash.

Accordingly,

^{when the time came to}

Sign

the

treaty,

^Blome

thought

^{he had the}

advantage.

^Aheedless fool like Bis-

marck,

^he

thought,

^is

incapable

of cold—blooded calculation and

deception,

sohe

only glanced

^atthe

treaty

^before

signing

it—he failedtoreadthe fine

print.

^{Assoon asthe inkwas}

dry,

^a

^joyous

Bismarck exclaimedⁱⁿhis

face,

“Well,

^{I couldnever}have believedthat Ishould find^anAustrian

diplomat willing

^to

sign

^{thatdocument!”}

The Chinese have ^a

phrase, “Masqueracling

^{as a swine to kill the}

tiger.”

This refers ^to an ancient

hunting technique

ⁱⁿ which the hunter clothes himselfinthe hideand snoutofa

pig,

^{andmimics its}

grunting.

^The

mighty tiger

^thinksa

pig

^is

coming

his way, and lets^it

get close, savoring

the

prospect

^ofaneasy meal. But^{it is}the hunter who has thelast

laugh.

Masquerading

^{as aswine}works wondersonthose

who,

^like

tigers,

^are

arrogant

and overconfident: Theeasier

they

^{thinkit is to}prey^onyou,^the

more

easily

you^canturnthe tables. This trickisalso useful if you^areambi- tious

yet

^find

yourself

^lowinthe

hierarchy: Appearing

^less

intelligent

^than

youare,^{even a}bit ofa

fool,

^isthe

perfect disguise.

^{Look likeaharmless}

pig

andno onewillbelieve _youharbor

dangerous

^ambitions.

They

may^even

promote

you^sinceyou ^{seem so}

likable,

and subservient. Claudius before he became emperor of

Rome,

^{and the}

prince

of France wholaterbecame Louis

XIII,

^{usedthistactic}when those above them

suspected they might

have

designs

^onthe throne.

By playing

^{the fool as}youngmen,

they

^were

leftalone.When thetimecamefor themto

strike,

^{andto actwith}

vigor

^and

decisiveness, they caught

everyone

oi?-guard.

Intelligence

^{is theobvious}

quality

^to

downplay,

^but

why

stop ^there?

Taste and

sophistication

^{rank close to}

intelligence

^{on the}

vanity ^scale;

make

people

^feel

they

^aremore

sophisticated

than you^areand their

guard

willcomedown. As Arnold and Slack

knew,

^anairof

complete

^naivetécan

work wonders. Those

fancy

^{financierswere}

laughing

^atthem behind their

backs,

^butwho

laughed

^{loudest inthe end?In}

general, ^then, always

^make

people

^believe

they

^{aresmarterandmore}

sophisticated

^thanyou^are.

They

will

keep

youaround because you make themfeel betterabout

themselves,

and the

longer

you^are

around,

^themore

opportunities

you^willhavetodo ceivethem.

I m a.g ^e2 The

Opossum.

^In

playing dead,

^the opossum

plays stupid.

Many

^a

predator

has therefore left it

alone.

Who could believe that such an

ugly, unintelligent,

^{nervous little creature}

could be

capable

^{of such}

deception?

Authority:

^{Know how to make use of}

stupidity:

^{The wisest man}

plays

^{this card at times. There are occasions when the}

highest

wisdom consists in

appearing

^{not to}

know—you

^{must notbe}

ign0—

rant but

capable

^of

playing

^{it. It is not much}

good being

^wise

among fools and^saneamonglunatics.He whoposes^{as a}foolisnot afool.The best_waytobewell received

by

^{all isto clothe}

yourself

intheskin ofthe dumbestofbrutes.

(Baltasar Gracién, 1601-1658)

REVERS A14

To revealthetruenatureofyour

intelligence rarely

pays;youshould

get

ⁱⁿ the habit of

downplaying

^{it atalltimes. If}

people inadvertently

^{learn the}

truth—-that_youare

actually

much smarterthan_you

look--«they

^willadmire

you^more for

being

discreet than for

making

yourbrilliance show. At the startofyour climb^{to the}

top,

^ofcourse,you^cannot

play

^too

stupid:

^You

may ^{want to} let_yourbosses

know,

^ina subtle way, thatyou ^aresmarter than the

competition

around you. As you climb the

ladder, however,

you shouldtosome

degree try

^to

dampen

yourbrilliance.

Thereis,

however,

^{one situationwhere} it pays ^to do the

opposite-

when you^{can cover}up^a

deception

^withashowof

intelligence.

^Inmatters

ofsmarts as in most

things,

appearances ^{are what count.} If you^{seem to} have

authority

^and

knowledge, people

will believewhat you say.^Thiscan be_veryusefulin

getting

you^outofascrape.

Theartdealer

Joseph

^{Duveenwas once}

attending

^{asoiréeattheNew}

Yorkhome ofa

tycoon

^{towhomhe had}

recently

^soldaDiirer

painting

^for

LAW 21 I51

I62 LAW ‘ll

a

high price. Among

^theguests ^{was a}youngFrenchartcriticwho seemed

extremely knowledgeable

and confident.

Wanting

^to

impress

^thisman,the

tyeoon’s daughter

showed him theDiirer, ^{which had not}

yet

^been

hung.

Thecritic studieditforatime, ^then

finally ^said,

^“You

^know,

^Idon’t think this Diireris

right.”

^He followed the young^{woman asshe} hurriedto tell her father what he had

said,

and listenedasthemagnate,

deeply ^unsettled,

turnedtoDuveen forreassurance.Duveen

just laughed.

^“Howvery ^amus-

ing,”

he said. “Do you

realize,

_youngman,thatatleast

twenty

^otherartex-

perts

^{here and in}

Europe

have been taken in too, and have said ^that

painting

^isn’t

genuine?

^Andnow

you’ve

^{made thesame}mistake.” Hiscon-

fident tone and air of

authority

intimidated the Frenchman, ^who

apolo- gized

^{for hismistake.}

Duveen knew that the art market was flooded with fakes, ^{and that} many

paintings

^hadbeen

falsely

^{ascribedtooldmasters. He triedhisbest}

to

distinguish

the real from the

fake,

^{but in his zealto sell he oftenover-}

played

^awork’s

authenticity.

What matteredtohimwasthat the

buyer

^be-

lieved he had

bought

^a

^Diii-er,

^and that Duveen himself convinced everyone ^{of his}

“expertness” through

^{his air of}

irreproachable authority, Thus,

^{it is}

important

^{tobe ableto}

play

^the

professor

when necessaryand

never

impose

^suchanattitude for itsownsake.