There's a sucker born every minute V

Piltdown Man was discovered in 1912.  It was exposed as a hoax in 1953.  What took so long?  This was a 40 year long hoax.  Not bad for a hoax.

     From the very beginning, there were skeptics concerning Piltdown Man.  Skeptical anthropologists noted that Piltdown Man was an aberration from the very beginning.  It would take a lot more evidence (for these anthropologists anyway) for them to accept the Piltdown "fossil."

   Further, when other anthropologists tried to reconstruct the Piltdown fossil, they arrived at different results (remember, one of the hallmarks of the scientific process is that the results should be reproduceable).  Keep in mind these other anthropologists were using the same skeleton fragments, but the results were not the same.

    An anatomist from the very beginning was able to show that the skull was a modern human skull with an orangutan jaw with filed teeth.  But, because he was not an anthropologist, his findings were ignored.

    Finally, by 1953, other finds in the evolutionary process (other fossil finds) clearly showed that Piltdown Man was a hoax.

More tommorrow.

http://www.tauskvega.com

-------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene  

There's a sucker born every minute IV

OK - we've brought up two important points which will come into play in this matter:

1.  European empire building led to an idea that some human races were more advanced than others, including on the evolutionary ladder (NOTE: this false idea was not limited to European civilizations);
2.  Anthropology, still a young science at the time, was exploring the possibility that there was a "missing link" between modern humans and other primates.

     These two ideas were in vogue when Piltdown Man was "discovered" in 1912.  As we have seen in the Wikipedia article, this "discovery" was nothing more than a fraud which included, most significantly, a human ape with an orangutan's jaw.  But, many people were anxious to jump onto the bandwagon and declare that Piltdown Man was the "find of the century" and the "missing link" between modern humans and other primates.

     Piltdown Man became famous and scientific journals around the world were fooled by this hoax.  Some people even built their careers on Piltdown Man, arguing that it was indeed a correct part of the fossil record and that it was the missing link.

     Soon after 1912, when the "discovery" was excavated, it was the most famous skull in the world.

     How was the hoax exposed?  We'll examine that tommorrow.

Have a great and fraud free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

-------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

There's a sucker born every minute III

OK - we talked about the publishing of Darwin's seminal work and the development of the idea that life on Earth evolved.  As stated earlier, Darwin's work changed forever how we look at ourselves and the world.

     Human evolution, however, was still viewed in many different ways during the late 19th and early 20th century.  As stated, some groups in Europe viewed this new theory as "proof" that certain groups of humans were more "evolved" than other groups.  This was the age of European imperialism and European groups dominated the world.  It was easy to misinterpret the ideas of evolution to argue that if some groups were more evolved, other groups were less evolved.  We will explore this more in future posts.

    However, mixed in with this was also the idea that evolution was imperfect with many unanswered questions.  One of these unanswered questions was the idea of the "missing link."  Where was the "link" between humans and other primates.  This question has long been answered, but during the 19th and early 20th centuries, this was an overriding question.

    These two themes, the idea that certain groups were more advanced than others and the "missing link" combined to assist the hoax of the Piltdown Man when the Piltdown Man was "discovered" in 1912.

Have a great and fraud free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

-------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

There's a sucker born every minute II

Charles Darwin published his immortal book On the Origin of Species in the middle of the 19th century.  Darwin was the first to publicize (but not to theorize) that organisms evolve.  The purpose of this blog is not to be a biology primer, but Darwin's work is (and remains) one of the seminal milestones in the history of science.  Through Darwin's work, modern biology was born and the idea of evolution is now accepted as a scientific fact. Living creatures change, they adapt to their surroundings, and all life on this planet came from more primitive organisms.

     Like all scientific works, however, Darwin's discovery led to massive social upheaval (and still does, unfortunately).  Some people find the idea that the Earth is not 7000 years old to be unacceptable.  Others argue that evolution cannot possibly coexist with certain religious texts.  Even today, in some states, the idea of "intelligent design" (a thinly veiled type of Creationism) is argued to be taught alongside evolution.

     But, for others, the idea of evolution was appealing, but it was appealing for all the wrong reasons.  Europe in the 19th century was building international empires.  Great Britain had annexed India and parts of South Asia; France owned half of Africa; Germany was setting up colonies in what was left of Africa; Holland had in its position the "Dutch East Indies" (modern Indonesia); the Russian Empire was the largest empire in history.

    Many Europeans (but certainly not all) believed it was the "manifest destiny" of Europeans to subjugate other peoples.  European culture and civilization was thought to be the height of humanity.  What if Europeans were not only advanced culturally, but genetically as well?

   To be continued.

Have a great and fraud free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

------------>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

There's a sucker born every minute

Fraud takes many forms.  I could spend the rest of my life just blogging about financial fraud (which, let's face it, is the area of concern for most people), but the subject of fraud has just so many good targets, sometimes we need to take a break from financial fraud and focus on the other aspects of deceit.

      I want to take some time to analyze one of the most amazing and controversial frauds in history.  It has nothing to do with money, or for that matter, finances or savings (although as we will see, people did make some money from the fraud).  It is not related to any bank, savings and loan or financial service provider.  No Bernie Madoff or other scammer is involved.

    Rather, it explores the sometimes murky area of......human evolution and anthropology.

   Don't go to sleep - it really is interesting and has a few surprise twists and turns.

  Let's talk about PILTDOWN MAN!

Thanx to Wikipedia, here is an overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man

Have a great and fraud-free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

-------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

The Great Albanian Pyramid Scheme XV

OK - one last note before we leave this topic.

Some observant readers have asked me - isn't this a PONZI scheme rather than a PYRAMID scheme?

    The answer, of course, is yes.  The great Albanian Pyramid Scheme is actually the Great Albanian Ponzi scheme.

     So - why call it by the wrong name?

    Blame the International Monetary Fund.  The IMF initially called them Pyramid schemes and the name stuck.  But - I am glad that my readers know the difference!

   We will begin a new topic tommorrow.

http://www.tauskvega.com

-------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk

The Great Albanian Pyramid Scheme XIV

OK - what can the Albanian experience teach us?

      It's easy to point at this entire mess and say "well, that's that" or "the history of Albania meant that this was an accident waiting to happen" (which is one of the reasons I posted on Albanian history) or "that's what happens when you expect something from nothing."

     Remember the key to all fraud, however - it is the acquisition of money or goods by deceit.  No violence is needed or expected, no weapons are used and no threats of force are required.  A good fraud scheme just really needs two elements: (1) the gullibility of the victim or "mark" and (2) the projected confidence of the perpetrator of the scheme.   BTW - when I use the term "gullible" here, I don't mean that the victims are stupid - far from it.  They are at a point in their lives when, for a number of reasons, they are letting their defenses down and are ready for the scam to be introduced to them.

    As we have seen from the Albanian experience, there was indeed a "perfect storm" that enabled the entire nation to become gullible to the projected confidence of the scam artists that pulled off this incredible, nationwide pyramid scheme that had its end result of plunging an entire nation into civil war.  An inexperienced and uneducated (as to Western economic functions and terms) populace and a massive criminal element (including, unfortunately, some elements of the Albanian government) pulled off a massive pyramid scheme not just on one victim or two, but millions of people.

     This, then, in my opinion, is the "lesson" (or one of them anyway) of the Albanian experience: fraud can not only rip apart an individual's life, it can have far reaching consequences.  It is not unreasonable to expect that people who find that their meager savings were destroyed by scam artists will become upset and, sometimes, violent.  When economic losses due to fraud are not contained, entire governments may find themselves on the receiving end.

     It is a lesson worth remembering in any economic situation, but especially economic "downturns."

We will wrap this up tommorrow.

Have a great and fraud-free day.

http://www.tauskvega.com

--------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk