Bamboozled

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” Carl Sagan

Our culture is going through a severe case of shock trauma, a trauma that due to the ease of spreading by social media has damaged trust and belief in a myriad of social interactions, and the damage is globally widespread. What started out as a bad joke about the authenticity of Barack Obama’s citizenship has grown to a suffocating blanket of conspiracy theories which are directly responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths by claims that the COVID pandemic is a hoax. Yet despite the mounting death toll in all parts of the globe, those who were in denial in the beginning and declared themselves as non-believers, are still convinced it’s a hoax. How can this be?

Name calling is rarely a good idea when trying to convince another that they are blind to the facts of the matter. Nor is any form of ad hominem attack. I mean, if I want to convince you of the error of your thinking it is probably not a good idea to imply that you are the mentally-deficient child of a drugged-out teenage runaway.

The simple formula for persuasion – and by this I do not mean manipulation which is a different matter altogether – is first of all to make the assumption that this individual (opponent if you will) is an intelligent, educated person who has based their opinion on certain truths, truths every bit as verifiable as your own. Then proceed to tell them that you are in agreement with these truths. By being sincere you can readily ferret out the facts that you both agree on. Then from this common ground, get on with the business of deciphering which of your differing opinions bear up under close scrutiny. No one enjoys being told they are wrong, but if your opponent can be led to where he himself comes to the conclusion that somehow he didn’t see the whole picture, perhaps by being fed false info or being deliberately led astray, then it’s much easier for him to adjust his beliefs. Or you to adjust yours.

As Blaise Pascal pointed out a few hundred years ago, “People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others.”

Pascal’s formula in this delicate matter was to suggest that before disagreeing with someone, first point out the ways in which they are right. To effectively persuade someone to change their mind, lead them to discover a counter argument of their own accord. Psychologist Arthur of the University of Texas, assures that both these points hold true.

“One of the first things you have to do to give someone permission to change their mind is to lower their defenses and prevent them from digging their heels in to the position they already staked out,” he says. “If I immediately start to tell you all the ways in which you’re wrong, there’s no incentive for you to co-operate. But if I start by saying, ‘Ah yeah, you made a couple of really good points here, I think these are important issues,’ now you’re giving the other party a reason to want to co-operate as part of the exchange. And that affords you a chance to give voice to your own concerns about their position in a way that allows co-operation.”

The formula, as simplistic as it sounds, actually works to smooth over countless disagreements, yet is normally ignored in favor of a heated fight, verbal or otherwise, where of course each party expects to annihilate the other’s pathetic reasoning.

This type of reasoning and cooperation is a must if we are to heal our communities, our nations, and our deeply wounded cultures the world over. It’s not that we had a perfect loving and caring world prior to this; such a paradise existed only in the mythology of Eden, and at that there were no other humans to quarrel with. But in the last handful of years we have been forced to follow the dictates of powerful leaders who are nothing short of con-men, flat-out liars, free-wheeling narcissists – in short the dictionary meaning of ‘psychopaths’. This is not who we are, as for the most part we are the descendants of wise and caring cultures from all parts of the world. We deserve so much better.

We can start anew by re-opening the conversation between our fellow citizens on both sides of every argument. No society can grow and prosper under a cloud of lies and disinformation. Truth must be the sturdy ground from which we launch our future together. Or as the saying from antiquity goes, truth shall set us free. Well if not free, maybe at least point us in the right direction to reconciliation. Such an exhilaration.

If you are wondering what it’s like to be one of those bamboozlers, practice these “7 Habits of Highly Effective Psychopaths”:

1. Develop a grandiose sense of self-worth and superiority

2. Become a pathological liar, cunning and manipulative

3. Vanquish any personal sense of remorse or guilt

4. Cultivate a callous absence of empathy and compassion

5. Never accept responsibility for your own actions, at least not the offensive ones

6. Exude an excessive sense of entitlement to all you crave

7. Disarm everyone with your superficial charm and insider smile

Sounds like the starting lineup of every evening’s world news report. We are reliving a 1930s horror show as an endless stream of cookie-cutter national leaders have again sprung up in full view of the world, proudly following the lead shown by the U.S. in its recent waltz with fascism. Of course these benumbed champions of all that is unholy are also well represented in major corporations, religious conclaves, academic circles and military hierarchy.

As Sagan cautions about one of the saddest lessons in history, it’s time to stop bowing to the conmen and bamboozlers, and take back our lives.