*|FNAME|*, I read a few days ago —but can’t find it now— about how this current Coronavirus Clampdown is going affect our perceptions of this past summer due to time compression.
The idea is an off-shoot of the “peak-end rule:” we generally remember the peaks of an experience (the most emotional –usually positive– parts), and we generally remember how something ends.
(more…)I’m reading through professional poker player Annie Duke’s upcoming book, How to Decide.
(Duke is scheduled for an upcoming Persuasion Play Podcast interview; subscribe to my email list for details.)
The majority of Duke’s new book revolves around managing risk and communicating our understanding of risk with others, and working to expand our understanding of a situation and the variables involved so that we have a better chance at a desired outcome.
My daughter recently mentioned that a scientist visiting her 1st grade classroom told the students that their brain power couldn’t move the physical world.
I disagree.
Yes, the common concept of telekinesis is unproven. Science has not been able to measure any sort of change to large physical items when a person or group concentrates on that item.
Balls don’t roll. Coins don’t flip.
Those aren’t the changes that an average brain can influence…
(more…)11:05am Tuesday
Good day! I’m following up on some client phone calls this morning while my kids hang out with my mother-in-law.
Sunday evening, she and I talked late into the night about the coronavirus, a possible return of students to schools in the fall, and —because everything is political these days— the politics of it all.
One thing she brought up was Trump’s recent tweet that we’re getting closer to a vaccine.
“It’s magical thinking,” she said, to raise people’s expectations when there’s no evidence to support it. “Trump does this all the time. He makes things up that just aren’t true.”
Truth, however, isn’t as apparent and unchanging as we’d like to believe.
(more…)Almost any discussion breaks down when one side stops listening to the other side.
Which is to say, almost every discussion.
You have points that you want to make and obviously the other side doesn’t have their facts straight. Because if they did, they wouldn’t be on the other side.
(more…)11:05 pm
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Years ago, when I first started reading and writing about persuasion, I found myself moving further to the political right. Or, perhaps, further from the current political left.
Learning about the tools and techniques of persuasion, I could see the manipulation of the population and how easily our energy is directed.
Persuasion, at its core, is getting someone to see the benefits of an action or a believe, and to change their behavior ‘for the better’ because of it.
Manipulation, on the other hand, benefits the manipulator but not the manipulated. Rioting, anyone?
When you’re the first to mention an idea, you “win” that mind space. This is the purpose of a Blue Ocean strategy, that you define a new market and you’re the only one serving it.
But when someone already has an idea and you’re hoping to persuade them to see the benefit of its opposite? Much harder.
(more…)7:45am
Saint Paul
Late last night I wrote about the divisions we see around us.
People are hurting, people are pointing fingers, people are acting and reacting and ratcheting up their responses.
My city, and others, are being destroyed because we’re being divided. Divided by labels, instilled through fear of Us vs Them.
(more…)One thing that most people won’t see during an economic downturn is opportunity.
But opportunity is out there.
And not the $25/hr Deskside Computer Support position that just landed in my inbox.
Real money. Like, $300 to $1,000 for a few hours of work.
When you make a compelling offer to solve someone’s legitimate problems, they’re happy to give you work. (Check out my review of The Secret of Selling Anything, here)
And if you’re decent with a camera and a computer, here are two opportunities I see right now:
(more…)I used to work in computer security.
Security was always top of mind for our department, and we were on the lookout for ways to improve security.
For many non-IT people, however, it seems that their own jobs are top of mind for them (duh). Most employees aren’t focused on security, but on communication and convenience to get their own jobs done.