Struck me just now that the Sucker Filter isn’t really unexpected. There are old sayings:
If you’ll believe that, you’ll believe anything.
If you’ll believe that, I’ve got a bridge…
What’s unexpected is that swindlers use these sayings as an operating rule.
Madman Lincoln’s saying: You can fool some of the people, etc.
We take it as a humorous observation. Other tyrants take it as an operating rule.
This is a good example of the black vs red, indicative vs imperative distinction. When normal people say a proverb they mean it as indicative, a description of what happens. When criminals say a proverb they mean it as an imperative, a rule to be followed.
Polistra's Mill 