For Love Of Deception

I would go so far as to say that the public loves to be deceived. In fact, I dare say that the majority would love to be deceived, and to live in their own little fantasy worlds. As much as this sounds fanciful or even absurd, that is because one hates to know that one is being deceived. Once the deception is revealed, the suspension of disbelief is shattered, causing a really bad case of cognitive dissonance.

Take for example the Olympics opening ceremony. The backlash from revealing the misrepresentations within the event was very great, as much as the rest of the event was found to be perfectly acceptable or even wonderfully executed. While some may cite political motivations behind the revelations, it does not discount the fact that the backlash was significant, and more so than what could be likely to be organized using political funds. Clearly, the people concerned had their illusion shattered, rendering the performance false (as it was, since by definition a performance isn't "real" the way spontaneous reality is understood).

By the same vein, a gambler would gladly throw incredible amounts of money at what's known to be a losing game, ignoring the kind advice from others that the probability of losing was far greater than that of winning. Instead, they cheerfully fixate on the *chance* of winning. This is an unlikely situation should the audience actually abhor being deceived and actively seek out possible deceptions...