As we all witnessing the current ICO craze happens, one has to wonder if people who are investing in those projects really do understand the concept behind it and believing it will someday be the next best thing just like what happened to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Google, Apple, etc., or maybe people are just gullible and they think, they will never fall in to a scam because if others are into it, it must be real, right?
Well an article by Christina Valhouli titled Cutting down the dissonance: the psychology of gullibility, explains how people's tendency to accept ideas at face value, no matter how illogical it is. She mentioned about the event in 1997, where a boy named Nathan Zohner, gathered a petition to ban DHMO or dihydrogen monoxide, for his science project and I quote:
"14-year-old Nathan Zohner, a student at Eagle Rock Junior High in Idaho Falls, announced on the Internet that he had circulated a petition demanding strict control of a chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide. This substance, he wrote, caused excessive sweating and vomiting, can be lethal if accidentally inhaled, contributes to erosion, and has been found in tumors of cancer patients. The student asked 50 people whether they supported the ban. Forty-three said yes, six were undecided, and only one knew that dihydrogen monoxide was... water. "
It is somehow astonishing, that the result of the survey was heavily favored banning dihydrogen monoxide, when in fact it was just a deceptively clever way of saying the chemical nomenclature of water or H2O, as the common chemical formula we know, in which dihyrdogen means two hydrogen and monoxide means one oxygen. The experiment showed how gullible people can be.
That event somehow illustrates the psychology of how people perceived the current ICO craze that's happening. Most people have the natural tendency to assume things even without knowing the facts especially when it comes to being wealthy. More often than not for the reasons of missing out, too trustful, the promise of getting rich quickly or simply being gullible.
Sadly when people, who invested on these ICO projects, starts to question why their investment suddenly has less value than they believe it should be. At the beginning, the high expectation and euphoria of seeing yourself made the right decision and going to get rich seems unending, even to the point of dreaming of (the price) going to the moon and having Lambos.
Then when all signs suddenly point towards a scam, you instinctively create something to believe and hold on to so as to overshadow your fear and doubt that you are in for a trouble. This is what the physicians call, in reference to addiction, the denial stage, you don't want to accept facts, you only tend to look on the things that can make you feel better but when it become inevitable to ignore reality, you begin to blame, complain that you have been deceived, that your life depends on the money you put on it so it must be returned, you look for someone or something that can help you, up to the point you were convinced to join group seeking to file a law suit which unfortunately, fulfilling it may seem, the probability of it being successfully is highly unlikely.
Because in the crypto ecosystem, it doesn't work the way you were accustomed to, it has its own set of rules, the anonymity, which all scammers love, dictates you would never see the person you're dealing with ever, you're just relying on your trust and instinct to deal with everyone but you must understand it first or else bare the consequences.
Remember not all things that glitter is gold especially on the internet, try to learn all the knowledge you can have as much as possible, always asked but still maintain being skeptic because scammers are everywhere, they are just watching and waiting to prey on those who are gullible.