manipulative – Socio Business blog

Dumb Americans

I sometimes have a way of saying things that people find awkward or even inappropriate, and I have a hunch the title I have chosen here is at high risk of becoming one of those situations. There is a lot to unpack here, and I don’t know if I will be able to unpack all… Continue reading Dumb Americans

Trusting the Sales Person

I have a hunch that gullible people are one of the biggest problems humanity faces today. It seems like used car sales persons have had a bad reputation since time immemorial, and what’s perhaps even more surprising is that time immemorial seems to go back no further than the invention of the automobile. Which people… Continue reading Trusting the Sales Person

Pretty Pictures

One nice thing about PDF documents is the pretty pictures. Granted: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but this image shows the extreme disconnect between reported facts and actual reality like no other (in my not so humble opinion 😉 ). Anyone who believes that the advertising industry is all about honesty has… Continue reading Pretty Pictures

X did Y, and I don’t care

I am reflecting on my recent posts over the past couple weeks. Two weeks ago, I described how mainstream media uses “bait and switch” tactics to get suckers to look at advertising. [1] This is usually done with a headline that claims something sensationalist along the lines of “X did Y”. Last week, I went… Continue reading X did Y, and I don’t care

How to Become Someone or Something

First and foremost: You must change. If you simply stay the way you already are, you will never become someone (or something). Personally, I don’t want to become someone or something — I am very happy just being me. If you aren’t, then I guess there is no way around actually changing. So if you… Continue reading How to Become Someone or Something

Self-Made World

I want to describe a storyline that I notice is used time and again … indeed, so much that it seems as if it were repetitive enough to come across as suspicious … . This is the myth of the “self-made man” (or woman? why not person? probably because it lacks the alliteration 😉 ).… Continue reading Self-Made World

Literacy Study: The smug smile

I have been puzzling about this topic quite a bit — while the idea first came to me gradually, then in spurts, in the end what puzzled me most was how to frame it. There are probably innumerable approaches I could take — for example, how people sometimes talk about “reading a room”, “reading a… Continue reading Literacy Study: The smug smile

Decentralization of Marketplaces

At this moment in Germany, perhaps the very last “department store” chain is on the verge of bankruptcy. That isn’t very remarkable — unless you consider that the business model is essentially the same as the business model which is replacing it: Amazon is basically a department store. The main advance in technology introduced by… Continue reading Decentralization of Marketplaces

A Tale of Two Segments

Once upon a time, where you lived had a huge impact on your life. Now, not so much. Today, what you think about, what you spend your time with, what occupies your mind and your mental energy matters a lot more. In this chapter, I aim to do a little thought experiment. I am going… Continue reading A Tale of Two Segments