Lets say you were a con arrist or maybe you are one. Would you be nervous on your first con? Or woould you be nervous ? i dont get mervous anymore. However I dont even know if thats common for a sociopath. I assume it is.
I wouldn't say nervous but maybe worried that an unforeseen detail went wrong due to the lack of experience.
I know it's a banality but it does apply in most new situations really especially those in which a manipulation of a person is involved because most of the time people are highly predictable until they're not and it's that case that somebody experimented would handle more easily.
Ya. That make sense. Looking back I was young. I was trying to do the short change con when i was like 13. But its done with us currency. So I had to make a canadian version cause we dont got ones. I didnt even pull it off. I was up at the register shaking and like uh can I get a 10 for this change and then I got all confused so I just ended yp asking for the ten. Haha. I felt like a pussy. Looking back I see now that I would of looked like some kid with a learning disability anyways.
I'll take the word "con artist" in a very broad manner. I think if I ever 'con' anyone i don't feel a nervousness, but more of a slight fear.. of sorts? It's more of just a feeling of being afraid of the unknown. But to be honest, i hate putting myself in positions where i have unknown options available. I try to only take calculated risks that i have weighed the consequences for heavily.
I've conned people before and never got nervous over it. I just do it and if I fuck up, I fuck up.
I don't really give it enough thought to worry about it because I always expect to succeed.
That's one way to do it.
But I think being on edge a bit can give you an edge too. I'm not a scientist but sometimes adrenaline can be good because it helps think and react on your feet. Of course you absolutely have to appear outwardly calm (well unless it's a part of the con of course).
We're talking about a hypothetical first-timer here chances are that performance anxiety will be present, the trick is to put it to good use.
And of course rehearsing the con helps too.
I have trouble remembering the reaction of my first con victim ( it was my mother and I was about 5 ), but I remember that I was promised a raspberry cake if I prayed really hard that morning for my great grandmother's health.
She was in hospital that morning and died the same day from a coronary thrombosis, but I still had my raspberry cake, which I was very adamant about receiving on the occasion.
And I faked all the prayers.
And I don't remember any overwhelming stress, just expectation.
I do remember being nervous the first few times I did illegal things. With practice comes confidence.
The one that stays most clearly in my mind was when I'd made a bet with someone over whether I would get away with something or get arrested. The idea of him winning that bet took it to another level. The thought of getting arrested didn't scratch the surface, but the thought of hearing "I told you so" was intolerable.
I got away with it, and I laughed when I told him I did.
The building blocks of a con are built over a period of time. A perfectly honest person doesn't just one day decide "hey i'm gonna go con someone" it's a series of skills developed over time that have taught them confidence in their ability to manipulate others.
Therefore if they have developed that aspect of themselves over time, then they probably wouldn't have very high anxiety over it, because it's something they've done for a long period of time already (in some form or another). That being said anxiety of telling lies for the first time can be seen in children as young as 3-4 because that's when they first start developing that ability to fabricate false reality. If someone was chastised harshly at that age for lying it would obviously make someone more nervous.
But if the behavior of lying was reinforced and rewarded (by getting them what they want) then the ability would continue to be honed and sharpened over time, and anxiety related to the act would subside or more accurately "normalize".