It seems that selling "snake oil" has always been intrinsic with the human experience. Any history book is full of mentions of that smart guy who hoodwinked everyone with that great idea that everybody knew couldn't possibly work yet this guy made it seem possible and even though in the end it was of course not possible, but this guy did prove that humans are gullible.
Like the guy who drove Coronado on and on through the midwestern US searching for mythical gold that of course he would never find. The Spanish conquista is full of these stories, I guess this guys were just so hungry for gold that they believed anything. And not just gold, Ponce de Leon went nearly crazy looking for the fountain of youth.
And we know there were miracle cures, miracle medals, miracle objects etc that could cure or give you the opportunity to get anything you want. Well we have that today also, only in a different disguise, now we know that technology or the internet can make you rich if you just follow a video or ebook that is sold for a very reasonable price, or you can get the miracle cure you need at a number of natural medicine outlets, I never knew they could come up with so many new wonder drugs, when I was in second grade I remember one guy very excited because they had found a new vitamin, vitamin K which was better than any other, that was back in 1969, yes way back befor ethe internet.
Then you have all of these therapies that can do wonders for you, like magnet therapy, water therapy, meditation therapy, gem therapy, card therapy, music therapy and a whole lot more, and of course if all else fails you can also fix any problem by just asking the Universe (by the way I always do this, no answers yet but at least it costs me nothing), but you need specific ways to do this and again for a fair price the book or video to do it just right exists.
I know that many people swear by these methods and really who am I to doubt them? I don't believe much in anything like this but how do I know I am right? Maybe I am missing out because I don't believe. I'll tell you something I have tried magnet therapy, it hasn't worked for me that I can tell but I have stuck some dead batteries to these magnets and it seems to revive them, at least I can give them some more use, I have near my laptop two magnets with two batteries hung from them and they are charging, I might try it with my cell phone.
But there are some things that seem to have just been a craze, like for example pyramids; in the 70's and 80's people swore by these pyramids, they gave you more energy, things lasted more if under a pyramid, houses were built in a pyramid shape and I thought by now everything would have that shape, but it seems it was just a fad, I don't read much about pyramid therapy nowadays.
And then we have a miracle bracelet that was sold in the 80's the Balance bracelet, good for everything; my sister gave me one and the first day I wore it i locked my knee, the guy who helped get to a car saw the bracelet and asked me how it could have happened with that sort of amulet on me, so I told him it was my first day, so he said "Oh, OK I can understand now, it is just starting to neutralize your negativity, you are doing great.
Now I don't know how that guy happened to be there but you would think that having that happen to me and the first guy I see telling me that the bracelet was working would have made me even more receptive of that bracelet. But no, I just heard him and I figured it was all bull right there, I couldn't be believing in something like that. Well today that same bracelet has evolved, it is now more expensive and is even better, I guess if I use one of these new versions I will not only lock my knee I will break it.
But these things just show that humans will believe anything, that is why there are so many con men around they know humans will more likely than not fall for their BS, especially politicians. Also seen on some very cool internet scams like Bitconnect and a whole army of others.
This is my Balance bracelet, I still have it because you never know.