Anybody can be manipulated.
Wikipedia:
“Manipulation is the use of means to exploit, control, or otherwise influence others to one’s advantage. In the extreme it is a stratagem of tricksters, swindlers, and impostors who disrespect moral principles, deceive and take advantage of others’ frailty and gullibility. At the very least, manipulation is forced influence used to gain control, benefits, and/or privileges at the expense of the others.”[1]
I think manipulation is a clever, premeditated, and subtle way to play with a victims mind with a view to get what you want with or without the consent of the victim.
In this regard, no one can escape this as long as they have a brain. This means you can manipulate anything with a brain. The only thing you cannot manipulate is anything without a brain.
The classic manipulation story happened in the biblical “Garden of Eden”.
The story is about Adam, Eve and the serpent (a.k.a. the devil), and the arena is the Garden of Eden (a.k.a. Garden of God).
Here's the conversation:
“3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” — Genesis 3:1–7:
One may just dismiss this as religious mythology, but this is actually pure psychology packed in one short chapter from a religious book.
Notice this is manipulation and cunning at it’s best. This is a proven, effective, and subtle formula people actually use on others everyday to deceive, control, and get what they want.
How they do it?
1.They take advantage of your gullible, selfish interest.
2.They set a trap.
3.Notice a lie is involved.
4.You fall into the trap, based on your selfish nature.
5.You get manipulated big time.
Whether you're a psychologist, psychiatrist, maverick, genius, smart guy, nerd, or just plain dumb, there's no way of escaping manipulation.
Everyone has fallen victim of manipulation at one time or another. We're all gullible, selfish and greedy by nature.
To manipulate someone, all you need is a bait. A bait is anything you can use against you victim, e.g. food, water, money, sex, power, jealousy, greed, influence, fame, etc.
The serpent in the bible (the devil), manipulated Adam and Eve by means of knowledge and power. For this, the devil is also known as the greatest manipulator of all time. You may probably be asking what the devil wanted in all this. Of course he wanted to control mankind. Evidence of this is narrated in the rest of the chapter and the chapters following this.
Of course if you’re non-Christian, non-Jew or non-Moslem, you may be wondering what the hell I’m talking about, but don’t worry. You’ll catch up pretty soon…
The fact of the matter is that we manipulate and get manipulated by other people all the time because we cannot separate ourselves from greed. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a king, president, clergy, or beggar. In fact, the more reputable you seem to be, the more vulnerable you are.
Manipulating and getting manipulated is a way of life. Salesmen use it all the time to get your hard-earned cash. Marketers use it all time to promote to you junk products you don’t really need. Preachers use it to force you to give more than you were prepared to give.
We manipulate people to get what we want, e.g. getting a job, getting a date, closing a sale, and especially to get political positions by lying to the electorate that we will deliver the moon, yet everybody knows this is impossible.
Women use manipulation against men to get them where they want. Men use manipulation to get what they want from women.
When it comes to manipulation, everybody is vulnerable. No one is spared.
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