How society deceives us
"Oh, man, oh, man! This is REALLY evil!"
That was my thought as I flipped through the book The Psychology of Influence, by Robert Cialdini. The book describes the 6 methods used by mass institutions, corporate advertisers and various news/culture media to deceive, trick and influence the minds of millions of people.
I picked up the book after it was recommended (highly) by billionaire Charlie Munger.
Later, it dawned on me that those methods of mass deception are precisely the reason why so few people actually succeed in life (whether you define success in financial, self-development or other terms).
Indeed, personal development gurus such as Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Stephen Covey, and financial success authors such as Robert Allen, Robert Kiyosaki, etc. have provided people for so long with clear, simple and powerful tools to succeed. Yet, the majority of people do not succeed.
In fact, only one person out of 20 ever achieve financial independence.
My insight, therefore, was that people are CONTINUALLY deceived by mass institutions and corporations, and this continuous deception was what prevented people from succeeding.
For example, you can read a great book on how to succeed as an entrepreneur. Yet, the minute you put down the book, you are bombarded by messages from society, and those messages lead your mind to think in erroneous ways.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know how society deceives them, so they can perhaps develop what Noam Chomsky calls "intellectual self-defense."
I recommend the book to parents especially, because as your children grow, it is likely that society will become even more deceptive since there is the proliferation of media through which advertisers can reach your child's mind and heart (TV over wireless devices, cell phones, iPod, vPod, podcasting, etc.).
That was my thought as I flipped through the book The Psychology of Influence, by Robert Cialdini. The book describes the 6 methods used by mass institutions, corporate advertisers and various news/culture media to deceive, trick and influence the minds of millions of people.
I picked up the book after it was recommended (highly) by billionaire Charlie Munger.
Later, it dawned on me that those methods of mass deception are precisely the reason why so few people actually succeed in life (whether you define success in financial, self-development or other terms).
Indeed, personal development gurus such as Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Stephen Covey, and financial success authors such as Robert Allen, Robert Kiyosaki, etc. have provided people for so long with clear, simple and powerful tools to succeed. Yet, the majority of people do not succeed.
In fact, only one person out of 20 ever achieve financial independence.
My insight, therefore, was that people are CONTINUALLY deceived by mass institutions and corporations, and this continuous deception was what prevented people from succeeding.
For example, you can read a great book on how to succeed as an entrepreneur. Yet, the minute you put down the book, you are bombarded by messages from society, and those messages lead your mind to think in erroneous ways.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know how society deceives them, so they can perhaps develop what Noam Chomsky calls "intellectual self-defense."
I recommend the book to parents especially, because as your children grow, it is likely that society will become even more deceptive since there is the proliferation of media through which advertisers can reach your child's mind and heart (TV over wireless devices, cell phones, iPod, vPod, podcasting, etc.).
posted by Super Peter at 11:58 PM
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