Ethos - Pathos - Logos

#1
I like Cialddini's book on Influence and while his observations about the human condition are spot on, knowing that this is about conditioned response makes it feels manipulative and it does not sit well with me to take advantage of that which the other person is unaware of. What I like about ethos, pathos and logos is that it is shaped by our own rhetoric and thus the other part of Aristotle I like, which is his focus on virtues - which itself is a basis for happiness as a tangible outcome. Whether we use tricks to gain influence or tricks to induce a state of happiness such as focusing on positive thinking, we then become just as conditioned as the people whose conditioning we happen to have received a map for. Cialdini provides that map but there is something about feeling like a trickster in following the directions of this map that I find tricky. Just as fake it till we make it is another kind of trick. Exploring these things ourselves and in return being in flow with this exploration, that is the kind of sweet-spot I like. Reply

#1
I like his book on Influence and while his observations about the human condition are spot on, knowing this conditioning it feels manipulative to take advantage of that which the other person is unaware of. What I like about ethos, pathos and logos is that it is shaped by our own rhetoric and thus the other part of Aristotle I like, which is a focus on virtues - which itself is the basis of happiness as a tangible outcome. Whether we use tricks to gain influence or tricks to induce a state of happiness such positive thinking, we then become just as conditioned as the people whose conditioning we happen to have a map for. Cialdini provides that map but there is something about the trickster that I find tricky. Just as fake it till we make it is another kind of trick. Exploring these things ourselves and in return being in flow with this exploration, that is the sweet-spot I like. Reply