On a Friday morning in New York City, a woman entered a bank and asked for the loan officer, explaining that she needed some cash and wanted to use her $500,000 Rolls Royce, parked right outside, as collateral. She ultimately borrowed $5,000 for two years, at an annual interest rate of 10-percent, and handed the keys to the lender. A bank employee then drove the Rolls to park it in the bank’s underground garage. After she left, the loan officials had a good laugh at her expense, commenting on how foolish she was, using a vehicle worth half a million as collateral on a $5,000 loan. A month later the woman returned to the bank, repaid the loan in full, including $45 in interest. The bank official thanked her for her business then asked why she needed the loan in the first place. She replied, “Where else could I safely park my car for a month in New York City for less than $50?”
In the late 19th century, some of the most powerful, corrupted and unscrupulous U.S. financiers got scammed out of nearly a million dollars by a couple of (what appeared to be) Southern rubes. Greed is universal, and when lofty financiers got convinced that diamonds had been discovered in the West by some scruffy prospectors, those selfsame greedy men set out to secure the mines for themselves while excluding the rubes from the riches. The key element missing, however, is the Southern rubes were not at all as they presented, and had set up an elaborate scheme to separate the rich from their money, which worked to perfection, because the financiers believed themselves to be smarter than those digging in the dirt. Fact: the “rubes” were successful gold miners, who had traveled overseas to purchase valuable gems and “seed” the Wyoming canyons with rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and – of course – diamonds for later discovery. The moneyed men, believing to have found treasure trove worth millions of dollars in perpetuity, immediately sought to extract from the hillbilly prospectors total ownership of the newly-discovered diamond mines for the pesky sum of $700,000. It took some convincing, but eventually the miners took the money, sold the rights, and the financiers were left with a big bag of dirt and dashed expectations. Some of the moneymen were ruined; others merely humiliated, all for believing the rubes too stupid, and themselves too smart.
The hustle only worked because the hustled – the wealthy – thought they were smarter than the hustlers.
Intelligence is the vanity of every person, regardless of station in life, and those with less brain power will try to justify or marginalize the intellect of others based on circumstances, or advantages, or limitations.
Rumor has it that Einstein’s front door had to be painted bright red because he could not distinguish his house from that of his neighbors.
“Apart from theoretical physics, Einstein wasn’t all that smart.”
A cardinal rule on the journey to power is to never, ever impugn the intellect of someone from whom favor is sought, or who has the power to destroy. Rather, subtly suggest that the target is smarter than you, that you need their help solving a problem or navigating a situation. The sense of intellectual superiority serves to disarm and distract.
During the mid-19th century, Otto von Bismarck, Prussian diplomat, needed to convince a high-ranking Austrian official to sign a treaty that solely benefitted Prussia to the detriment of Austria. Bismarck set his sights on Count Blome, an avid quinze player, who stated that he could discern a man wholly by his card-playing methods.
Bingo.
Prior to negotiations re the treaty, Bismarck used feigned naivete to engage Blome in a game of quinze, during which he played recklessly, without thought or strategy, spouting off nonsense while appearing the bumbling fool. When time came to sign the treaty, Blome signed without reading the fine print, assuming Bismarck too stupid and feckless to engage in such measured deception.
Objective: achieved.
There is an ancient Chinese idiom: Masquerade as a pig to kill the tiger.
In other words, hunt as prey and destroy the predator. The hunter sees an easy kill, but when the rabbit has a gun the hunter is caught unawares.
Appearing the fool is the perfect foil. Appeal to the intellectual vanity of others, make them feel smarter and more capable in your presence, and increased opportunities will follow.
Caveat: illuminate your brainpower only in competition with peers, never against an authority, and allow those in charge to see you are the smartest of the subordinates.
There are instances, however, where forced expertise may serve to reinforce one’s authority.
Art dealer Joseph Duveen had recently sold a painting to a wealthy patron, and during a party, a young art critic examined the work and declared it a fake. Duveen laughed in the man’s face, told the critic with disdain that he was not the first novice to be duped, and his experienced eye could tell the difference between the works of true masters and frauds. The critic, chastened, agreed that he was wrong and apologized. However, Duveen knew there were many fakes on the market, and while he made a conscientious effort to identify and sell only authentic works, some counterfeits fooled even him. Duveen’s exercise of “irreproachable authority” served him well in the face of doubt, and his commission – and reputation – remained unchallenged and intact.