1. The "thrill" of options is specifically designed to harvest overconfidence.

- A few hundred bucks can potentially win tens or hundreds of thousands.

- Doubling or multiplying your money in a day is all too common.

- As long as you guess right once, you'll start thinking:

I have talent / I understand this / I'm different from others.

The brain automatically glorifies success and downplays failure:

Remember a win for a lifetime, but dismiss ten losses as just "bad luck."

2. The vast majority have no idea what they're actually losing.

90% of retail investors only know:

- Buy calls

- Buy puts

- Bet on direction

They completely don't understand:

- Time value is eating away at their money every day

- A drop in volatility can halve an option's price instantly

- Out-of-the-money options are highly likely to expire worthless

Ignorance → Fearlessness → Extreme overconfidence.

The less you know, the more you think you can win.

3. Survivorship bias + social media amplification

All you see is:

- People flaunting their doubled positions

- People flaunting overnight riches

- People flaunting "prophetic predictions"

No one shows:

- Losing everything

- Getting margin called

- Getting repeatedly harvested

The world through your eyes:

Everyone is making money, only I haven't made any yet.

Confidence naturally soars.

4. Human nature at its core: Everyone thinks they are the "chosen one."

Psychologically called overconfidence bias:

- 80% of drivers think their skills are above average

- 80% of stock investors think they can beat the market

- 80% of options players think they can catch the big move

People are born not believing they will be part of the "majority who lose."

Everyone thinks they are in the 10% who make money.

5. The design of options is to make you "think it's simple."

- Click to buy

- Choose one of two directions

- Max out the leverage

The simpler something is, the more confident it makes people.

People respect complexity, but underestimate simplicity.

6. The harshest truth:

Options aren't about who's right more often, but about who survives longer.

- You can be right 10 times, but one wrong heavy bet can wipe you out.

- You can make small profits 10 times, but one extreme market move can erase it all.

But people only think:

I must be right this time.

In a nutshell

Options, with their extremely low barrier to entry, potential for huge gains, and simple operation,

amplify human greed, overconfidence, and wishful thinking to the extreme.

Most people aren't trading; they're being fooled by their own brains.