It’s us. We are more hubris than any other creature on this planet. The other day, I received a voicemail of morse code. It was a clever scam. I have no doubt that if you deciphered it, it would eventually lead to a conspiracy that would have ultimately led to giving my social security number. The ruse only works if we want something bad enough that we are willing to suspend reality to have it. “Of course, someone out there needs me!”
That’s why Charles Ponzi, a century later, is still remembered because it is a warning for how vulnerable (and gullible) human beings are. Our motives are effective at suspending reality.