by Vince:
Is the world going nuts at an exponential rate or do I now have more time to observe and reflect instead of just going with the flow of the rat race of everyday living? Everywhere I turn, someone seems to have an agenda for personal gain and the ones that have the biggest agenda are the hypocrites. The saddest part of this debacle is that this onslaught of attempts to manipulate emotions with the goal of changing behaviors is happening under the guise of morality.
Manipulation is nothing new and all of us are victims. Advertising that tries to convince you that an item is a need and not a want is a great example of manipulation. Much of the political rhetoric which is heating up is an attempt to manipulate. I do my best not to become a victim of these ploys and I try to avoid all the mindless debate. Instead of getting caught up in the frey, I will offer you a few references which will help you identify manipulators and which provide a few tools which will help you avoid or lessen the impact of manipulators, especially those forwarding the morality agenda.
This blog post is a good starting point.
As this article points out, manipulators often violate fundamental human rights in an attempt to make one believe they are morally in the wrong when in fact the manipulator is the one purposely causing harm for personal gain. This is an excellent example of hypocrisy at it’s best.
Link number two also contains some good advice. 10 Strategies for Eliminating Manipulative People From Your Life
The quote from Will Smith pretty much sums it all up :“Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings and emotions.”
For those of you that like the really deep technical articles, I will leave you with this link to a paper on moral hypocrisy. I found it a great read.
If you don’t have time to read the whole paper, just read the conclusion section. It does a good job of explaining why the use morality argument is so effective.
Darla says
Great articles. Thank you!
Lisa G Boyer says
From your article: “Social and moral reasons and principles that we are taught from an early age onwards and not exclusively by explicit instruction and articulation of those reasons and principles. ” This is so true! But yet, we are constantly being preached at (“explicit instruction”) by society in countless ways at every turn. For some reason, today’s youth thinks that unless we are constantly and publicly virtue signalling (“articulation”), we are not moral. It’s like a witch hunt! I’m getting very tired of defending myself.
dezertsuz says
I find that many people use ideas which are repugnant and claim them as facts when, in fact, they are the opinions of a small minority of people. I have completely quit listening to news media because they typically want me to believe their slant on the news and don’t simply present the facts of what happene.
Leslie says
Really enjoyed these articles. They gave me good insights into myself and society.
Beth Honnoll says
My 17 yr old grandson has learned this early. He stands up to teachers when they are wrong (and they know he will) He will fact check for them, so they know he isn’t just being a smart alack. He has little patience for going along with the crowd. In today’s world, he’s a step out of the ordinary & I truly love him for it.
Judy Laquidara says
That is truly wonderful. I wish more people would do that with their kiddos! Congrats to you and to his parents! I know you are very proud.
Nelle Coursey says
Be very wary of people claiming they are Christian when they do things like lying and think it is ok to cheat on your wife, etc. If that is Christian, I don’t want to go to that church. Anyone can check into a hotel and get a Bible and say they read it every day. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. I am always reminded of the Beatles song “Rocky Raccoon”. “Rocky Raccoon checked into a room, only to find Gideon’s Bible. He left it no doubt, only to begin poor Rocky’s revival!” And it goes on!
archer1955 says
Vince – please excuse my ignorance but, what is PFTR?
Sandi B says
Pondering From The Recliner
archer1955 says
Oh, OK. Thank you Sandi B !