- Trump’s presidential victory “ripped a whole in the fabric of the universe” in the sense that people have had to alter their mental models to fit reality. Objectivity was believed to be synonymous with reality but Trump’s victory shows that we have to alter the “movie in our head” to model what is really happening. This was one of the biggest perceptual shifts to ever occur
- A good mental filter is one which helps you predict the future and makes you happy. Adams does not say that the persuasion filter is an accurate representation of reality
- Cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias are two phenomena which affects everyone.
- Adams’ blog and prediction of a Trump victory was partly motivated by him wanting to make sure people were looking at the situation through the right lens. Trump remade the Republican Party in his own image, destroyed the media’s credibility and crushed the Democrats.
- The tell for cognitive dissonance is not the quality of explanations but how many of them there are. Also, overly emotional or aggressive responses, the psychic psychiatrist (thinking you can know other people’s unspoken feelings or thoughts), retreating to analogy, extreme social or professional pressure to agree with the assumed answer, and attacking the messenger are other tells.
- Cognitive dissonance isn’t a bug in the operating system. It is the system. Mass delusions are the norm
- Always keep an eye out for leaders who have a “reality distortion field”
- 2D v. 3D world
- Second dimension - mental model most people use which says that people are mostly rational. Master persuaders operate on the third dimension where people are irrational 90% of the time. Humans think they are rational and that they can understand reality but they are wrong on both accounts. The truth is that humans bounce around from illusion to illusion, thinking we see reality.
- Facts play little role in the big decisions in our lives as we are emotional creatures. We make emotional decisions and then rationalize them after the fact
- When emotions are involved, people simply don’t change their minds just because facts are presented
- Evolution doesn’t care if your representation of reality is accurate as long as you procreate
- Moist robot filter - people are like software and if you feed them certain inputs, you’ll likely get certain outputs
- To attract the other sex, aim to be talented rather than nice. This signals good genes
- When someone exceeds your expectations, look to see if they have a talent stack - a grouping of talents which add onto the others and allows them to excel
- Some of the most powerful words in history have been “turn the other cheek” and “we the people”
- Look for situations or decisions which give you multiple ways to win and none or minimal ways to lose. The importance of systems over goals
- Persuasion tips
- Fear is the strongest form of persuasion
- When you identify as part of a group, your beliefs tend to fall towards the consensus of that group
- Reciprocity is a huge tool for the persuader
- Persuasion works on the subject even when they know its being used on them
- The things you think about the most will irrationally rise in importance in your mind
- If you are not a master persuader, find a balance between never apologizing and apologizing too much
- Don’t trust any explanation of reality which isn’t able to predict
- People are more influenced by the direction of things than by their current state
- Display confidence whether real or not to improve persuasion
- Hypnosis works best when the hypnotist has credibility
- Calling out what someone is thinking when they are thinking it makes you connect and gives you more persuasive power
- Leave enough blank spaces in your content/argument/etc. so people can fill it in with whatever makes them happiest (Dilbert has no last name and don’t know what industry he’s in so more people can connect...)
- People are more addicted and respond better to unpredictable rewards compared to predictable rewards
- Aligning yourself and making yourself a key part of helping people reach their aspirations is a great tool of persuasion
- It is easier to persuade when you establish and signal any form of credibility
- People hate uncertainty and those who offered we are simple and strong answers even if they’re wrong are more persuasive
- Visual persuasion is far more powerful than non-visual persuasion
- People are more persuaded by contrast than by fact or reason. Humans need contrast in order to make decisions and prioritize. Find ways to set yourself apart from competitors
- Association is a very strong form of persuasion. All people and all companies are always “marketing.” What you associate yourself with becomes your brand and what people think of when they think of you. Associate carefully with positive factors. People forget what you say but not how you make them feel
- People almost always get used to small annoyances. We love novelty and almost always adjust to things as they routine
- All communication depends upon what we believe is in the mind of the person communicating. What you say is important but not nearly as important as what people think you are thinking
- High energy is taken for competent leadership even when it is not
- Direct requests are persuasive. Ask the customer if they want to buy. Trump ends many sentences with “believe me.” A command disguised as throw away words but in fact become associated with him over time as he repeats this over time
- Repetition is persuasion. Repetition is persuasion.
- Match the pace of the people you want to persuade and then you can lead. Copy their emotion and speaking style
- Trump matched the emotional base of his constituency and played to it. He made big, outrageous first ask and later, when he compromised, the other side felt relieved but more got done than maybe otherwise would have. Policies during the election weren’t that important as he would figure out the details later
- People love the simplest explanation of things but in a "3D" world this is hardly ever accurate
- Simple explanations are more credible than complicated ones even if wrong or incomplete
- Have to be memorable to be persuasive. Easily remember things which violate our expectations. A good general rule is that people are more influenced by visual persuasion, emotion and repetition of facts
- People put far more importance on the first part of a sentence than the second. Structure them carefully
- Analogies are great tools to describe a new concept but are terrible tools to try to persuade others
- Provide a “fake because”. This is a reason which those on the fence can fall back on and use as their excuse for deciding the way you want them to
- Making an exaggerated statement which is directionally correct is another form of persuasion as it tends to stick better in people’s minds
- The master persuader move energy and attention to where it helps him the most
- High ground maneuver - elevating a debate from the details on which people disagree to a broader concept on which people tend to agree on. Instead of attacking people’s actions, take the high ground and ask them if that is truly the person they want to be. Point out the gap and watch it close
- Linguistic kill shot - a nickname or short phrase which is so persuasive that it can end a debate immediately
- Trump is a master at using images, visual perception. Low Energy Jeb, Crooked Hillary, Pocahontas, The Wall
- Nothing kills humor like a boring and general truth. Steve Jobs’ response to issues with the iPhone 4s antenna is a prime example
What I got out of it
- A lot of gems and great tips / cautions on how to go about being a better persuader. If you know the rules / tactics, you'll be better able to spot them and combat them from being used on you
