Art of persuasion

It is true that people only believe what they want to believe. We refuse to be persuaded otherwise (even with facts and logic) once we have our hearts set and minds made up.

Example, how many out there believe in Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus? To most of us, they are just ordinary singers with a mediocre voice, we can't figure out what the fuss is all about! But to millions of tweens out there, they are undoubtedly THE BEST.

NOTHING their parents or older siblings tell them is going to change their mind.

Interestingly, according to research, our minds work in such a way that when you are confronted with data that threatens your beliefs, your mind works over

time to defend you, in order to allow you to continue believing what you already believed.

So, you see, the art of persuasion is not that simple.

Let's take a look at that amazing picture down there.

Do you see the mermaid? Look carefully at her 'legs'...

Well?

Since mermaids don't exist, it is out of the question:) It's just a woman, erm well... sunbathing in the presence of several fishermen.

But for an instant, I thought she did remarkably looked like a mermaid. BUT for those of you who don't believe in nonsense, you would have seen a girl/woman at the first glance without any hesitations. That shows the differentiation between non-believers and believers.

The art of persuasion can achieve great things if used correctly.

My post today is actually inspired by an amusing incident I experienced in class.

Most of you would be familiar with this image.

"Who can see a young woman?", our lecturer asked.

I raised up my hand and so did lots of people.

"Who can see an old woman?"

Many hands raised again, but not me as I can never quite see the old lady (unless my friends helped to point it out for me).

"Who can see both?"

"Good! Now... who here can see a dog?"

A dog?

"Can anyone see the dog?"

Certainly, that was unheard of, but everyone stare intently at the picture, trying to figure out.

Moments later, a hand raised.

"I see the dog!"

"Where?", everyone asked, frantic to locate it.

"Show it to them,", the lecturer smiled.

After much cajoling, the shy girl finally agreed to 'show' the dog by using the laser pointer and vaguely pint-pointing the location.

'Can you guys see the dog now?"

A few people answered 'yes' and talked excitedly to their friends, gesturing to the hidden dog in the picture.

As more and more people begin to see the dog, our lecturer dropped the bombshell.

"There is no dog."

What, there is no dog! We should have known it all along! We can't believe we've been tricked!

Our lecturer then proceeded to explain that there is a dog only if you believe so. If you THINK there is a dog, your mind will actually allow you to see it. Wow....

Therefore, the art of persuasion is really powerful, watch out! :P

Nah, I did my homework. A bit of trivia here:)

According to Aristotle, "not only do we tend to believe ideas we like, we also tend to accept the ideas of people we like."

It is the very reason why a half-logical argument will sound unlikely/unreasonable from someone we dislike, and yet the same argument will seem fully likely/reasonable from someone we trust.

P.S. Aah. No wonder we don't believe in salesman. Because we don't really trust them :P