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A Brain-Based Explanation For Why Old People Get Scammed
sciencehabit writes "Despite long experience with the ways of the world, older people are especially vulnerable to fraud. According to the Federal Trade Commission, up to 80% of scam victims are over 65. One explanation may lie in a brain region that serves as a built-in crook detector. Called the anterior insula, this structure — which fires up in response to the face of an unsavory character — is less active in older people, possibly making them less cagey than younger folks, a new study finds."
Just sayin'... the guy looks like such a crook; I always wondered how he could get supporters.
... they have sat around alone and rot their brains for decades in front of a brainwashing, passive TV instead of doing and creating things. I'm not saying it's necessarily "their fault", but I think this is the reason. I am also fully convinced that you get brain damage from watching the TV programmes of today, not to mention the advertisements.
It could be that us younger folk have been taught from day one not to believe a damn thing anyone says online.
Maybe they just grew up at a time when people were more honest?
I'm thinking of going into business with a Nigerian Prince!
old people are old. details at 10pm.
...these are the same people who used to see deals on infomercials and think they had to buy it right then and there.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
By the time you're over 65 you've been lied to soooooo many times that it doesn't even register any more.
They're also (as a general populace) more lonely, less educated, more dependent on repairmen to do tasks for them, and more financially well-off than their younger counterparts.
They're basically the perfect soup for travelers, gypsy trash, and other assorted con-artist-pieces-of-shit to take advantage of. Makes me want to go back to the days when a tall tree and short noose waited for that filth when they got caught. There is very little in this world lower than someone willing to take advantage of the elderly.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
All brain functions are in decline throughout most of our lives, I doubt any one specific area has much more of an impact than any other. Judgement, trust, memory, reasoning, caution, etc.
Up to a certain point, sheer experience helps prevent older folks from being scammed, but somewhere there's going to be a tipping point in most people's cognitive skills in general that make them an easier mark. A headline like "Elderly found to be easier to scam!" just gets "no kidding!" from me.
I'd also wager the average 85 yr old is easier to coax into a stranger's car than the average 5 yr old.
I'm sure I'll get a reply from one or two telling me their Aunt Gracie was sharp as a whip till the day she died at 90, and you'll run into that from time to time, but those people are by far the exception to the rule.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
As we all know, the human cerebral cortex is heavily wrinkled, allowing a very large sheet of neural network to fit inside the skull.
During the aging process, the wrinkles gradually diffuse through the skull, collecting on the skin surface, and leaving the cerebral cortex much less efficiently packed. This, obviously, is why old people are wrinkly and suffer cognitive decline. What theory could be simpler or more parsimonious?
Called the anterior insula, this structure — which fires up in response to the face of an unsavory character
Just because someone's shady looking, does not mean they're a thief. The inverse holds true as well.
Truth be told, most-if-not-all of us have been robbed of far more by white guys in suits, rather than black guys in hoodies.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
This might also explain why so many of them watch Fox News and buy stupid things on TV. In fact, the association between right wing causes and commercial scams is well known.
If young people weren't all such self-involved pricks and actually bothered to spend the 30-45 minutes EVERY TWO YEARS that it takes to CAST A FUCKING VOTE then maybe there wouldn't be such a death grip on this country from the elderly...
One good troll deserves another.
Without picking on any network in particular, according to Nielson one network has an average viewer age over 65. Surprisingly, the competing networks are not wildly younger wrt age demos.
Not the source but a nice overview of the demographics:
http://www.quora.com/Fox-News-cable-news-network/What-are-the-demographics-of-Fox-News-viewers
Could certainly be considered trollish, I know. But it's an interesting hypothesis nonetheless.
Shits always changing, new rules, new procedures, new technology...
People generally fight these changes at first and then come to accept them over time either form being worn down or finally accepting that they have no control over the matter, as with government bureaucracies.
As people age, complex thought becomes more difficult and cloudy. Memory fades and the willingness to learn the new procedure, rules or tech declines. Combine this with a lifetime of learning that you may as well accept it because you're going to lose the fight and you have elderly people far more willing to accept shady come-ons as legit.
e.g. I regularly get snail mail "disguised" to look official replete with very official looking seals and logos that claim new government fees or programs for which I should sign up for. In the past I spotted them immediately and tossed them, but increasingly I'm having to give them a second or third look before deciding they are scams.
One final note, how many twenty-somethings get scammed and then report it to the FTC. I suspect they just suck it up because their bitch ass is embarrassed.
If they think the elderly are easy, they haven't met doctors, newly successful pro athletes and salesmen of all kinds.
I am not a crackpot.
That's like saying she deserved to be raped because she didn't go to her self-defense classes.
I've found in my life that kids 15 and under fall for scams much more often than senior citizens. Think 'fad' if you don't agree. Fad is after all, just a slow scam. Got any beany babies?
If your head is too far up your own ass to go cast a ballot for the politicians that best represent your interests, then yes you deserve to get raped (and i bet you will like it).
trooooololololololo
you can't complain about the influence of the elderly when the only reason they have influence is because you refuse to vote. so, your analogy is incorrect. it's more like saying she deserved to be raped because she was asked to have sex and then she responded with "meh, whatever."
You talk as if there is a way you could vote that would actually change anything. Even assuming that the system worked as intended, at most you'd get to choose one issue where you get to make a positive change. For the other issues things either stay the same, or you get ass-raped.
which is totally what she said
I think you've watched Logans Run a few too many times.
I think this article also explains why the older parts of the population have a better percentage turnout for voting ;)
"A question to be addressed in future research, she says, is whether decreased activity in the insula is the cause or the effect of older peoples' more positive outlook. "It may be that older people engage with the world in a certain way and this is reflected in the brain activity."
"
I wonder if anyone bothered to check whether increased activity in the anterior insula correlated with increased adrenalin production - as in 'I'm going to have to flee from/fight with this threat, so lets ramp up the activation and pay lots of attention to what my body's doing"
If your head is too far up your own ass to go cast a ballot for the politicians that best represent your interests [...]
Unless you feature in Forbes Magazine, no politician on the ballot represents your interests.
So that explains why MS sales always want to talk to the senior VP/CIO/... they know they are suckers.
You talk as if there is a way you could vote that would actually change anything. Even assuming that the system worked as intended, at most you'd get to choose one issue where you get to make a positive change. For the other issues things either stay the same, or you get ass-raped.
The real problem is that every generation complains that the previous one mucked things up and they will make it better once they get in power.
Then they do get in power but "surprisingly" things do not get any better.
It is as if people stop caring about injustice once they are on the right side of it.
For whom are we supposed to vote? Rapist 1 or Rapist 2? Either way we get raped.
That's like saying she deserved to be raped because she didn't go to her self-defense classes.
Last I checked, standing in line and filling out a form was not a martial art.
However, if we are making it one, I am a fucking black belt.
Shit, I fill out forms from my desk.
maybe not, but some are certainly better than others, and who gets elected to congress DOES matter. even if a politician doesn't *precisely* share your views, they may agree on matters you care about most, such as internet freedom or immigration or taxes.
voting is worth everyone's time.
well, isn't even one issue worth your while? weed got legalized in two states. change CAN happen if enough people vote for it. imagine that!
so sick of the attitude of "oh, voting never actually affects anything". it's a demonstrable FACT that it does. anyone who says otherwise is just acting anti-establishment to try and sound cool.
No, it is like saying she deserved to get raped because she dressed like a hooker, spent time standing on a street corner with a bunch of hookers and got in a car with a strange guy who asked if she wanted to party.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
If voting does not change anything, why do the elderly have outsized influence on America's political system? The best explanation I have seen for that is because they vote.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
20 years ago I would have said this article was complete bunk. But today it seems quite reasonable!
This would explain how so many grandparents like their grandchildren
If your head is too far up your own ass to go cast a ballot for the politicians that best represent your interests [...]
Unless you feature in Forbes Magazine, no politician on the ballot represents your interests.
This is precisely because politicians must cater first to (a) groups that vote in large, reliable blocks (easy to target) (elderly, gun owners, etc) and (b) individuals with the money to pay for advertising to influence all the rest.
If a politician did spend time trying to ask each constituent what they wanted and then tried to plan a way of delivering on it, they would get about 5% of the way through their district and be so bogged down they would forget when election day was.
If *everyone* voted, and voiced their opinions loud and clear with relevant interest groups, then you bet your sweet ass politicians would pay attention to more interests of "the people". If people could be counted on to make up their minds about issues instead of either not voting or voting for whoever was in the last ad they watched, the "Forbes vote" you pointed out would cease to exist.
tl;dr GO FUCKING VOTE, and then tell as many people you can how and why you voted; be part of the system, don't criticize it's inefficacy when you don't even bother to help it be effective, otherwise you are just as hypocritical as everyone you claim to despise.
ya know old timers disease and people can then prey on that
one reason why if i ever seesuch in real life i will beat the fucking tar out of you
so remember if you get caught your gonna get PAIN
Because sometimes not only do robots attack, they also lie.
Weed got legalised because they held a vote on the actual issue. Of course it's worthwhile voting on individual issues. Jeez.
Voting for a person rather than on issues as a way to express your opinion is like asking your taxi driver to solve a set of riddles rather than telling him your actual destination. How does voting for a specific person say that you want weed legalised? Maybe you abhor weed, but you agree with the rest of the guy's policies, etc. I'd rather we had a system of being allowed to nominate issues and vote on them. Voting certain people into certain positions of authority is probably still a good idea, but it's a very poor way to make your wishes known, and it's dumb to act like things aren't going the way you want simply because you didn't vote for a certain individual.
which is totally what she said
ITT, fools who think voting actually means something. Call me when you get to vote on each and every law.
whose bearer's are no longer equipped to use them.
to do with Wilford Brimley bias?
"Hello, is Nancy at home? Hi Nancy, this is TV's Wilford Brimley, just checking to see if you're enjoying your oatmeal. Yes, yes, its a pleasure to meet you too. Listen, Nancy, do you have a credit or debit card or bank routing number handy? You do? Good..."
I wonder if this is correlated or even causality related to older people having a much-reduced circle of close friends?
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
You might scam everyone else in the neighborhood Mr. Gnome but you won't get me. Now get off my lawn!
We already have death panels and have had them for ages. They are called insurance companies.
No, no it's not. Your analogy is like saying any politician that assumes people who aren't actively complaining don't object (or they would be complaining), becomes a rapist. The people who modded you insightful are those people who really, literally believe all politicians are sub-human scumbags that deserve to be called rapists or worse, and probably believe as well that total anarchy is a good thing. Go ahead, keep feeding them red meat.
Who is John Cabal?
many states let their citizens nominate issues and vote on them ("ballot initiatives") - that's how weed got legalized, after all. other states let people vote on referendums which work in a similar way.
voting for representatives is a good thing because it explicitly AVOIDS direct democracy for fear of tyranny of the majority. this is also a good thing. rather than just having millions of potentially uninformed voters cast ballots on every single issue, we elect smart people to discuss the issues and represent us as best as possible.
at least, that's how it's supposed to work. the states elect a LOT of idiots, but it's still a better system than any other.
Don't worry, they are on the way!
"Bring out your dead!"
Old Man:"I feel happppppyyyyy!"
Son:No, you don't. You'll keel over any minute.
Old Man:"I think I'll go for a walk!"
You make it sound like the 1950s were like syria today.
Totally weird.
maybe not, but some are certainly better than others, and who gets elected to congress DOES matter. even if a politician doesn't *precisely* share your views, they may agree on matters you care about most, such as internet freedom or immigration or taxes.
A politician may or may not agree with some of your views but they, as a rule, do not have your best interests in heart.
voting is worth everyone's time.
Making sure that you have good voting choices is worth everyone's time.
Going through the motion to vote for what you consider to be "the lesser evil" is not.
It's virtually irrelevant how closely they share your views. The only thing that matters is 'can they be corrupted/bought/coerced, or otherwise vote in a way that in any way deviates from their beliefs.
I honestly believe that even if you include all the people who are even in line to be elected to congress, never mind everyone already there, you will find exactly zero people fitting the above.
Vote for the one with lube. Obviously.
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
They complain the most, and have the most time to complain. a) They don't have... y'know... full time jobs that eat somewhere in the range of 8 hours a day of time. b) A large number of them are bitter about the world, or how things have changed, and how things were better in the 'old days'. And as has been seen countlessly, squeeky wheels, no matter how stupid, always get grease. They have the time and complaints to bitch for 16 hours a day if they wanted. Of COURSE their voices will be heard more often. And all politicians care ONLY about quieting complaints, because that means they can say they fixed X issue, all hail him. Improving things? Doing anything to help the working generations? Oh HEEEEELLS no, we're too busy working to asking about things nearly as much as old people can bitch about them.
tl;dr: Old people have a fuckton more time to push politicians into making things like "the good old days", who are all the more happy to oblige, since fixing old people complaints it's once more gold star he can put on his resume. It's absolutely irrelevant if it pisses off the younger folks, because we're too goddamn busy working to complain about it. Or if we do, the old people will complain MORE about leaving it that way.
Honestly, I fully and completely believe that once you reach the age of 55 or 60 (or perhaps just when you no longer work full-time, to avoid people working 2 hours a week to not be counted as retired), you should no longer be allowed to vote. You're not contributing even remotely as much to society as the younger gen, so they should get dibs on saying what the fuck happens with it.
I vote every year... because your local elections for mayor/supervisor, council, school board, etc. are quite important. Maybe if we all participated in our local affairs, we wouldn't expect the federal government to do everything.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
30 - 45 minutes? It may take that long to stand in line, but the getting off work and driving there and then back to work, or earning the money to pay a babysitter and finding a babysitter takes longer. The elderly usually don't have to worry about all that.
If voting was done on Sundays and free child care was offered, and/or if it were able to be done online, I bet the number of young people voting would skyrocket.
And by "politicians that best represent your interests" you mean "the politicians that say fuck you to your interests slightly less".
Working full time is the marker of contributing to society? What about the people that quit working full time to raise the next generation of young people? Or the part time researchers and etc.? I consider that more of a contribution than being a full time desk jockey.
why did this get modded down? it does nothing more than describe how american politics work, because clearly a lot of slashdotters don't understand them. direct democracy is not a good way to run a country. that's why the USA is a republic of states.
It's a little harder in areas where you have to wait hours, and can't get time off to vote, but yes, for most people they are just lazy.
I'm not a lawyer, so maybe there's another law that covers of what I'm thinking, but notice the part which says, "not married".
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.44.079
(1) A person is guilty of rape of a child in the third degree when the person has sexual intercourse with another who is at least fourteen years old but less than sixteen years old and not married to the perpetrator and the perpetrator is at least forty-eight months older than the victim.
"I think the puppet on the left shares MY beliefs, well i think the puppet on the right has MY interests at heart...hey wait a minute, there is one guy working both puppets!" Bill Hicks. The man has been dead for 20+ years and damned if his words don't get more true every year.
The simple fact is that unless your "vote" is done by a check with a lot of zeroes on it? Well then your "choices' are Coke VS Coke in a holiday can, IE none. I could sit here for an hour explaining why but i think this video explains it better than I could.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Exactly, look at your choices. One tax and spend, the other spend and spend, BOTH love bigger government, BOTH love more police powers, BOTH kiss the corporate rings, BOTH kiss the ass of the 1%. And the difference is....what exactly?
People have been voting FOR DECADES for less wars, less military pork, for an end to handing out checks to third world thugs, for their money to be spent here at home...has ANY of it come to pass? The military is bigger than ever and still building trillion dollar turkeys like the Soviets were planning an invasion, we are still handing billion dollar checks to thugs which is then used to torture and murder populaces that then hate the USA, and rightly so since its US guns being used to bash their heads in, our infrastructure falls apart while the top 5% pay the lowest tax rate in history and STILL uses tricks like double dutch and irish whip to make sure they don't even have to pay the pittance they owe, voting is a fucking joke. its a way for the stupid peasants to feel slightly less helpless while the handful at the top rule just like they have for centuries.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Old people steel like fucking ravens! Im not sure if its the dementia or all the layers of unwashed gunk on their bodies, but they sure do love to steal things, EVEN SCRAPS OF FOOD!!
Yes ive worked with old people, and no its not hospital like place. but a fucking Cafe for old people.
We now cant have the nice silverware out, as they fucking steal that too.
If you can't drag your brat along when you vote, you have failed as a parent.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
TFA says that 80% of victims of scam artists are elderly.
Depending on what counts as a "scam"–some people think the lottery is a big one–there are way too many other reasons beyond something wrong with their brains to make this explanation complete or even useful.
For example, a much better and simpler explanation is that the older you are the more likely you are to be socially isolated. Socially isolated people are easier prey for scammers.
In fact, the results reported in TFA more usefully support something that trial lawyers have believed for a long time: young people see the world black and white, while the older you get the more it all runs to grey. So, depending on their case, they pack the jury accordingly.
Most scammers do not look like the scammers portrayed in fiction but look much more like ordinary people. If the detetection of scammers is based on looks I would expect that younger people would be scammed much more frequently because they watch much more fiction, and thus have a wrong mental picture of how a scammer looks like, and have much less life experience.
As for crime rates being down - https://www.google.com/search?q=us+crime+rates+down&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Oops,. wrong place
People that are not parents always seem to know how to parent perfectly.
You're not very good at this.
Contrary to how people see it, there are pretty much always more than two candidates on the ballot.
The fact, that people tend to stay focused on the two "main" ones, despite an alternative being present, speaks volumes about how they feel about actually wanting to embrace change.
I mean: you all (at least the majority did) know that you don't want a republican to win. Most of you also know that Obama didn't live quite up to his promises or your expectations.
Why not choosing a third (or fourth or sixth) alternative? Can it really be worse?
[An extraterrestrial robot and spaceship has just landed on earth. The robot steps out of the spaceship...]
"I come in peace," it said, adding after a long moment of further grinding, "take me to your Lizard."
Ford Prefect, of course, had an explanation for this, as he sat with Arthur and watched the nonstop frenetic news reports on television, none of which had anything to say other than to record that the thing had done this amount of damage which was valued at that amount of billions of pounds and had killed this totally other number of people, and then say it again, because the robot was doing nothing more than standing there, swaying very slightly, and emitting short incomprehensible error messages.
"It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like to straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"
"What?"
"I said," said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"
"I'll look. Tell me about the lizards."
Ford shrugged again.
"Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happened to them," he said. "They're completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it."
-- From So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams.
Too many issues, too little time...
They do the grunt work so we don't have to think about it. I think that makes sense. They get hot interns and corporate bribes, and we get some laws made and enforced.
http://congress.indiana.edu/the-job-congressman
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company -- Mark Twain
Although the Dutch system is changing, it used to be that you voted for a political party that had a particular set of beliefs/stands on issues. That party would "put up" one of its members as the actual face on the floor of the parliament to do the floor work. Things have changed now though, with the rise of the right-wing party that has a complete ideology that spans all issues and locks people in to ideologically based voting instead of issue based voting.
Kind of like the US, but still different and with the possibility of return to the older system someday
People that are not parents always seem to know how to parent perfectly.
Shame it doesn't apply to me dumbass. People like you with your out of control crotch spawn ruining it for the rest of us.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Doesn't apply to me. I don't vote because I do not believe women should be allowed to vote. And my "crotch spawn" (only half of then came out of my crotch, but whatever) are under control.