Scaping the Unwary: A New Perspective on Fishing

Harvesting suckers is like fishing. The key is making the fish feel like it's winning. Only when the fish believes it's right can you actually reel it in.

Think about wish-fulfillment novels or grifts—don't they all follow the same playbook?

You think you've won, but that sense of victory was quietly planted in your mind by someone else.

This is information asymmetry. At the end of the day, a fish only sees the bait right in front of it. It can't see the hook, the line, the rod, the angler, or the human heart behind it all.