THE CON MAN

Author Maria Konnikova recently spoke to Business Insider about her book about the psychology of con artists. She said three attributes make a good con artist:

The dark triad is three things, obviously, including psychopathy, the inability to feel emotion in the way that normal people do. It's kind of a lack of empathy. Your brain is actually different, you process emotional stimuli differently. To you, they don't mean that much. It's very difficult for a non-psychopath to understand, but basically everything that would really make you emotionally engaged would leave you cold as a psychopath, so that's one part of it. 

The second part is narcissism, this overblown ego where you not only think you're just the best thing that's ever happened to anyone, but you also think you deserve a lot. You deserve basically everyone to bow down to you. And you have it coming to you, all these good things. So if you notice a lot of the con artists in the book, they want shortcuts, they don't want to work hard for their rewards, because they think they deserve them. They are people who steal credentials because they don't feel like getting a Ph.D. But they think they're smarter than the people with Ph.D.s.

Finally, it's Machiavellianism, or the ability to manipulate people into doing what you want. Kind of like Machiavelli's Ideal Prince, you have your own ends and you use whatever means you want to get there. And you're very good at tricking those people and getting them to do what you want.

The reason those traits are so important to con artists is that you are taking advantage of people, and in order to do it well, you can't think that you're taking advantage of people, because the moment you do, you start feeling bad for them. What this triad allows you to do is not have to deal with that, you don't feel bad for people, because you don't feel empathy. And you don't think you're doing anything wrong, because you deserve it. And you have the means, because you're Machiavellian, and so you're very good at convincing other people that what you say is correct. Those three things can really operate in tandem to create the perfect story. That said, and one thing that I do say in the book. It's not destiny. There are plenty of people who have these traits who don't become con artists. And there are also con artists who probably don't have the entire dark triad of traits.

Lacking emotional empathy. A belief in deserved alpha dog status. Ability to manipulate other people.

This was the blueprint for a few LOST characters. Sawyer was a known con artist, a process which he adopted in order to get revenge on another con artist, Cooper (Locke's biological father). Ben also conned Sawyer into submission on the Hydra Island kidnapping story. And Kate regularly conned men to do her bidding - - - such as helping her break into a safety deposit vault. Shannon manipulated men to pay for lifestyle of doing nothing constructive. 

Of the main characters, Ben showed the strongest abilities in the three elements of the dark triad. Sawyer had spats of remorse during his cons. Kate did not think she deserved a lot, except for her freedom. Shannon was more of a spoiled brat than psychopathic behaviorist. Cooper was a close second to Ben on tricking people to give up their prized possession - - - like an internal organ from Locke.

So there was a clear scientific basis for the character traits of the theme of con artists in the series.