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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion
People are constantly trying to sway others’ decisions in one direction or another. But this isn’t always as nefarious as it sounds; by using persuasive techniques to influence decision making, these people are offering us the opportunity to make informed choices grounded in facts.
Such persuaders intend to offer people enough information on the issue at hand to allow them to make a rational choice. A typical persuasion technique is to state both an argument and a counterargument, only to immediately disprove the counterargument based on facts to support one’s case.
In this way, persuasion is often a result of long discussions in which one person’s opinion actively transforms as a result of another person making a stronger case for his perspective. It’s clear to the persuaded person that his opinion has been changed and he’s comfortable with that.
This manner of argumentation is based on the central route of information processing, which transfers information through detailed argumentation and is crucial to successful persuasion.
People who are persuaded centrally are ready to receive information-dense messages. They’re not interested in any old information, but would rather take their time weighing the strengths and weaknesses of different positions.
Because of this focus, such people are fully concentrated on the message they’re discussing, and they thus devote all their mental faculties to understanding the message, as well as their own opinions on the issue. When arguments are made in this way, people are capable of making educated decisions by assessing information from different sources.
However, not all arguments are made in such a straightforward way. In the following blinks, you’ll learn about another widely used technique of persuasion that’s not nearly as fair; it’s called propaganda and you can find it just about everywhere you look.
Age of Propaganda (2001) is an in-depth look into the world of deception that is propaganda. These blinks will walk you through the different techniques propagandists rely on to successfully change people’s opinions and show how these tactics have become part of your everyday life.
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Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trialBlink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma