America has long believed that anything is possible.

This optimism helped build the world’s largest economy.

It has also made Americans easy targets for dishonest sellers.

In 1897, a Baptist minister convinced people his company could take gold from seawater near Lubec, Maine.

In 1925, Bailey Radium Laboratories sold Radithor as a cure for impotence.

They also said it could bring back energy.

There was no gold in the seawater.

Radithor poisoned people with radiation.

Americans also gave us Clark Stanley’s fake “snake oil.”

Charles Ponzi’s stamp-coupon scheme was another example.

Experts say people keep believing such claims for a simple reason.

Dr. Lydia Kang wrote a book on medical fads.

She said people really do not want to die.

She said everyone has a deep wish for a long life without disability or pain.

Other experts point to social and evolutionary reasons for believing strange claims.

These tendencies are stronger in America, Kang said.

She said this is because of its optimism, individualism, lightly regulated capitalism and ambition.

Tali Sharot is a neuroscience professor.

She said beliefs are not always meant to be accurate.

They can bring rewards, like community or hope.

Kang said companies exploit this hope.

They bottle it and sell it at whatever price people can afford.