+++
date    = "2024-05-19T18:51:46+00:00"
lastmod = "2024-05-19T18:51:46+00:00"
tags    = [ "musings" ]
+++

Falling for enough cons is the mark of a casual connoisseur in books of
_confidence_. One of my favorites is _The Book of Swindles_ by Zhang Yingyu. How
could one not read a book that inspires such a beautifully scandalous contra
introduction?

  > This is an age of deception. Con men ply the roadways. Bogus alchemists pretend
  > to turn one piece of silver into three. Devious nuns entice young women into
  > adultery. Sorcerers use charmed talismans for mind control and murder...

  --- [The Book of Swindles by Zhang Yingyu, Columbia University Press](https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-book-of-swindles/9780231178631)

The first lesson against swindles is 'obtaining passage through the state of Yu
to attack the state of Guo', which in faraway modern times translates to
_keeping the [tin foil hats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_foil_hat)
demarcated at a safe arm's length of distance_.