Who are infogypsies, or the Dr. Fox Effect

Who is Dr. Fox

“The word is given to Dr. Myron L. Fox!” The audience froze. Psychology students, psychiatrists, social workers and related specialists came to the lecture of an authoritative scientist and expert in the field of mathematical game theory¹.

Dr. Fox spoke confidently and beautifully. Appropriately and wittily joked, used a lot of familiar and unfamiliar scientific terms to listeners. By the end of the lecture, everyone was fascinated. The audience was invited to share their impressions: they highly appreciated the knowledge of the scientist, his contribution to science and the ability to captivate the audience. They reported that they were satisfied with the informative lecture and were pleasantly impressed. Someone even remembered reading Dr. Fox’s articles.

And then the audience was told the truth. “Doctor Fox” turned out to be an actor who had neither a degree nor deep knowledge in the field of game theory. His speech was based on an article he had read on the subject. And success with the public was associated with his personal charm and ability to present himself.

The authors of this experiment, conducted in 1970 – Donald Naftulin, John Ware and Frank Donelly – wanted to test their theory. They assumed that students evaluate the manner of delivering information rather than the content of speech. They published the results in Scientific American, calling the phenomenon “seduction” in education.

“How to control the Universe without attracting the attention of orderlies”

The “Dr. Fox effect” was a psychological phenomenon in which the lecturer’s charisma and expressiveness mask the meaninglessness or banality of speech.

Turn on your TV, go online, and you’ll see plenty of examples of how this effect works. Listen to the speeches of politicians, “psychics”, “business coaches”, Instagram coaches and pseudo-psychologists, as well as all kinds of gurus – just don’t confuse them with psychologists, trainers and coaches who also represent themselves on the Web, but have a full education.

A charismatic, charming and confident speaker with a “well-suspended tongue” inspires sympathy and trust. But far from always he is a really good specialist … And here it is just appropriate to recall the term “seduction”. This is exactly what pseudo-experts do, to whom gullible listeners bring money – for “consultations”, “sessions” and other pseudo-services.

On the Internet, they are called “infogypsies”, as they confidently seduce people with informational garbage. For example, they conduct trainings “How to make a million”, having collected this same million for selling tickets for trainings. They organize master classes “How to become a successful blogger in two weeks”, webinars “Marry a billionaire” and other events where you will be “taught” how to achieve your goals.

What helps infogypsies deceive us?

• In experiments with Dr. Fox’s lectures, it was of great importance that he was presented as an expert in his field. This forms a “halo effect” – considering a person as authoritative and intelligent in advance, we tend to trust him more.
• The important thing is how the speaker looks – his clothes always correspond to the image of a successful person
• No less important is “non-verbal” – body language, movements, gestures.
• We are fascinated by the speaker’s sense of humor and confidence, his manner of speaking beautifully and naturally, and his ability to juggle “code words” and terms
• Charisma and extraversion make a speaker both “special” and “one of them”

Psychotherapist, body-oriented therapist and actress Ekaterina Primorskaya notes: “If I understand that I give my psychology students too much information, then I use my first profession (actress. — Approx. ed.) to get their attention.

I am absolutely convinced that the infogypsy effect is a story about seduction. If the main goal is to seduce and attract attention, then the effect works perfectly. They can seduce under any cover, but the most popular is probably psychology.

However, without the charisma, personal charm and dedication of the “speaker” nothing will work. After all, someone who is passionate and believes in what he says will have more viewers than a cool, but not artistic professional who has no goal to please the audience.

How can you protect yourself?

Knowing about the “Dr. Fox effect” in itself will not save you from possible infogypsy scammers. Therefore, in order to protect your wallet from waste, you need to connect critical thinking.

If you’re fascinated by a charismatic person who promises you a “magic pill” when you pay, take a step back. Stop and think if Dr. Fox is in front of you. If this is a coach or psychologist, check if he has a relevant higher education.

If you are promised easy money or an easy way to make money, collect information about this person. And remember the words of the swindlers from the Virtuosi series: “The first rule of a scammer is not to deceive honest people. Look for someone who wants to take without giving anything. And leave him with nothing for this “nothing”.

¹ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcr6UJwaPlQ