Manipulation, indoctrination and addiction | Seth’s Blog

They’re often related.

It’s not unusual for someone to have more experience or knowledge than we do. If they use that knowledge to their benefit, not ours, they might be manipulating us. If we knew what they knew, we wouldn’t have gone along. This is the difference between a generous teacher and a hustler.

Indoctrination is the repeated effort to get people to believe something, often something that’s not useful or correct. It starts early, it’s repeated and it’s built into the culture. When peer pressure is added to manipulation, we often end up with indoctrination into systems of belief that aren’t helpful.

Learning to thrive in a resilient culture is essential. Being indoctrinated into a rigid and fragile mindset is not.

And addiction is often sold to us. It’s a shortcut to profit and power for many. Ingrained habits that fuel businesses or movements are designed to be sticky manipulations. Better for them than for you.

The easiest way to deal with any of the three is to avoid them. The hard part is that once they begin, they create the conditions where it’s ever more difficult to stop.

Call it out when you see it.

Ask who benefits.

Go slow. If it’s still a good idea tomorrow, it’ll still be a good idea tomorrow.

April 27, 2024