Suggestibility and Compassion
Look like a fool, join the mainstream, appeal to primitive instincts, and be cute.
Suggestibility is one’s inability to assess how much are they affected by others’ beliefs.
Compassion is one’s inability to assess how much are they affected by others’ feelings.
We live deep within our own beliefs and feelings. We would not be humans if we won’t.
At the same time, most of us underestimate how much are we shaped by the others.
Tribal attachment humans feel towards culture, religion, brand, or another human are often examples of suggestibility. Remove the context and take a fresh look … oh, wait. If you’re a human, chances are, you simply are incapable of taking a fresh look. Not your fault. Don’t feel bad.
Crowdfunding campaigns, bans on assisted death, or giving a recovering alcoholic another shot “because they wanted it so badly”, are good examples of compassion. Looking back from the big picture standpoint, most of those decisions look rush and immature. But it’s rather uncommon to meet someone whose decision making in the moment matches their big picture thinking.
Numerous observations and controlled experiments have been conducted and documented to confirm that both suggestibility and compassion are an inherent part of all of us.
Let’s throw in an assumption that these two traits are the cornerstone of human deficiencies. And see what can be done to work around them.
How dangerous suggestibility and compassion are is easy to see.
Imagine you are hiring a personal assistant. They have access to your personal information, schedule, contact list, and, eventually, finances and some property.
Would you trust the keys of your home, or your bank access token, to someone who is suggestible to open a door, or to give money to a stranger?
I sure won’t.
The number one quality of my personal assistant is predictability. To sleep well, I want to know that if something, outside the scope of this person I hired, suddenly happens, they will not make rush decisions, but will first and foremost reach out to me.
Go beyond a personal assistant. You need a secretary. Not for yourself, for a department. Secretary of state, perhaps. Or of National Defense.
The pressure is so high on this position, that any individual human will inevitably burn out, and start making suboptimal decisions. Hence, a department is needed.
Inevitably, machinery is being introduced to help. First, computers help collect the data and process it. Over time, some form of Artificial Intelligence begins to have nonzero influence on the decisions.
I’m asking you, in all seriousness. Would you want the AI, partly or fully responsible for making nation-wide decisions, be equipped with a unit of suggestibility? Or a unit of compassion?
Hell, no. Over my dead body.
The higher the stakes, the more important it is to simply do what has to be done. A sure way to make the judgement day come true would be to say “Hey, why is our control unit for nuclear weapons so robotic and inhumane?”
And aren’t decisions we make about our own lives important for ourselves? Why not take them seriously, instead of blindly trusting our instinct, that often proves itself wrong down the road?
Unfortunately for the best of us, we live in the world of humans, most of whom are suffering from suggestibility and compassion on a daily basis.
As we can not change the world around, the best option is to adapt to it. Here are a couple hints on how to get by.
First, on suggestibility: Look like a fool.
A while back, I used to force myself to assume intelligence in most conversations. Like a good boy, I was full of doubt, presenting my arguments carefully and selectively, assuming each of them may be wrong.
I would not want to miss an opportunity to let someone wiser than me to point out where exactly is my thinking flawed.
My logic has been simple. I was well prepared to lose my grounds to a more dogmatic and ill-formed argument in ninety nine cases out of a hundred. But in that last one I would be lucky enough to meet someone who listens to reason, not to their instinct.
Well, that pretty much doesn’t work. The critical mass of people simply doesn’t listen to the voice of reason. Moreover, those, who prefer to have a reason underneath, have also adjusted to both disguise themselves as fools, and to look for the substance instead of appearance, while listening.
So, no harm in appearing dogmatic. You’re doing yourself no good by playing nice. It only helps to look a little bit naive, and don’t we all?
Second, also on suggestibility: Join the mainstream.
As we know by now, the best way to send out a message is not to phrase it to make the most sense. It’s to phrase it in a way that sticks to … well, most people around.
Thus, often times, instead of arguing why exactly certain approach is stupid, it’s best to join it for a while. Doesn’t matter if you disagree with its foundation. Not that anyone would notice anyway. Go with it!
Don’t just look like a fool. Act like one. And be proud of it.
After all, what’s the easiest way to change something, if not from the inside?
As an added benefit, keep in mind, others like you tend to do the same. Thus, although it might sound controversial, by joining the mainstream you might well be increasing your chances of meeting like-minded people, who disagree with this very mainstream as much as you do.
Third, on compassion: Appeal to primitive instincts.
Phrase your ideas in the shortest way possible. Have them sound as if they appeal to some Cause.
Have them resonate with authorities your audience worships.
Make people you speak with feel you can help them look better. It works. Evidently, for most people, the hope to feel better thanks to you would beat the reason behind your words any day.
Fourth, on compassion: Be cute.
It works great at accomplishing goals. And feels good too. Ain’t it great?
Oh! Last, but not least. Don’t show this to those who are in denial about their suffering. It doesn’t work.
Instead, look like a fool, join the mainstream, appeal to primitive instincts, and be cute.
