https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueAskReddit/comments/1i5znqj/how_to_guard_yourself_against_manipulation/
created by BranchInitial9452 on 20/01/2025 at 20:08 UTC*
3 upvotes, 4 top-level comments (showing 4)
Seems like manipulation is everywhere now a days. To your friends, family, workplace, people you dont even know, etc... Its easy to just not trust anyone and you can always just vet , but you're not always going to be right even if you vet them. Is there any 100% proof way to know when someone is trying to manipulate you?
Comment by AutoModerator at 20/01/2025 at 20:08 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Welcome to r/TrueAskReddit. Remember that this subreddit is aimed at high quality discussion, so please elaborate on your answer as much as you can and avoid off-topic or jokey answers as per subreddit rules[1].
1: https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueAskReddit/about/sidebar
2: /message/compose/?to=/r/TrueAskReddit
Comment by Dweller201 at 20/01/2025 at 20:45 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Learning formal critical thinking skills, like there are books about, is a great way to counter manipulation. For instance, advertising uses many types of lying arguments to trick people. If you can identify them, they don't work.
Another skill is figuring out the logic of events and being able to predict the future based on the probable outcomes based on the logic of current events.
Recently, my friend's daughter contacted me on facebook and told me I could make 1500 via cashapp but she needed some info from me. She is from a place where a lot of slang is used. She was not using it when typing. She wasn't responding to various references I was making. Also, I didn't believe she would know some scam and her nickname for me is Superman because I'm a noble person so she would know not the come to me with illegal activity. So, I knew it wasn't her.
If people come to you with an idea you have to know who they are and the outcome of the proposition must in all logical likelihood have positive outcomes.
Comment by Creepy_Performer7706 at 20/01/2025 at 22:51 UTC*
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Manipulation is the other person trying to push you to do something that is not your responsibility or is not in your best interest.
So, if asked to do something I do not want to do, I think: is what they ask me to do either my responsibility or consistent with my interests.
If neither is true, I politely let them know that I cannot do it. If after 3 times of me saying this, the other person insists on me doing it - it is manipulation.
Comment by PersonOfInterest85 at 28/01/2025 at 16:07 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Ask questions.
Who made this video? Who wrote that blog piece? What are they attempting to convince me of? Who's paying them?
To borrow from Neil Postman: What problem am I being asked to address? Whose problem is it? What solution am I being sold? What new problems might this solution create?