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Reader question: Please explain “con artists” and this sentence: “They mix some truthful reporting with the lies, as all con-artists do.” My comments: Con artists are just con men – cheaters and swindlers? The title of “artists”, I think, is given to those good ones, you know, those who are really great at it, those who, if you don’t mind, have elevated their con game to an art form. With tongue in cheek, I mean for you to remember “con artist” is a pejorative term. Now, the “con” in “con artists” and “con game” is not the con in “pros and cons” but is short for the word confidence. That explains the quintessence of the con game, i.e. the confidence game. Con artists are able to turn adults into suckers because they’re good at winning your confidence and trust. In our above example, when “they mix some truthful reporting with the lies”, the truthful part is what wins your confidence, which is also what helps, later make you fall for their lies. I once had a friend describe to me how some con men were trying to sell the moon to him. Not the whole moon. Just a piece of it, like, a square inch. For 100 yuan. First, he said, these con men ask us whether we are aware of the fact Americans have landed on the moon, and things of that nature. When they find some of us are interested, they then tell us that because of the moon landing, etc, the race to colonize the moon has begun. | 
