Secret Information
2011
Is there really secret information? Probably not much remains
truly hidden or forbidden anymore, but there are always little
secrets about how things work. Religious leaders, salesmen, politicians,
and others learn and use subtle techniques to influence you.
Lucky people use little-known tricks to have what we call good
luck. Here are some examples of some of the secret information
you might not yet have been "let in on."
Controlling People With Words
You may have heard the classic joke, "Have you stopped
beating your wife?" It is difficult to answer without incriminating
yourself. This technique of the implicit premise is used by politicians
for more than jokes. Get everyone to argue about how to do something,
for example, like how to win a "war" on drugs, and
nobody questions if it should even be done. Implicit premises
are a powerful method of control. Get in the habit of recognizing
the premises hidden in political debate.
Another way to influence people is to control language. Since
social security payments don't come from actual investments,
unless you call the government lending itself money "investing",
social security isn't a "retirement fund." Calling
it that, however, makes it seem safer and more acceptable than
what it is: welfare (promised welfare, but still welfare). You
can see how the words used control the debate.
Our words matter greatly. Could it be difficult politically
to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on "human shredder"
bombs? Maybe that's why they are called "daisy cutters."
Start paying attention, and you'll see how words are being used
to influence you.
Hypnotic Sales
Read the following sales pitch:
Does speaking before a crowd make you
nervous? What if it was easy? Imagine standing there in front
of a crowd, knowing exactly what to say to make them love you.
Wouldn't that feel wonderful? Just apply our simple methods,
and you will have that power. Use the form below to order
right now.
Now let's look at this sentence-by-sentence. The first sentence
gets you to say yes, which is habit forming. The second hints
at the possibility of a solution. The word "imagine,"
in the third gets you doing just that. Sentence four suggests
a positive emotion and elicits another yes from you. The word
"and" in sentence five infers cause and effect, that
you'll have the power because you used this product. The
last sentence does two things. It directs your action with the
words "Use the form below." The part where it says
"order right now" is called an "embedded command,"
because putting it in italics influences you without your conscious
recognition that the words are different.
Years ago I learned dozens of these techniques, and I used
them to rewrite the sign-up page for one of my newsletters. As
a result, I started to get four times as many subscribers from
the same traffic. Secret information or not, it is powerful stuff.
Secret Information and Techniques
It may seem that some people are just lucky, but "lucky
people" create the right conditions for "luck,"
by being in the right place, and around people who can help.
Good salesmen use techniques like "mirroring," and
"leading," to persuade you. Research from the new science
of behavioral economics is applied by smart marketers to create
methods of getting you to buy.
Secret information isn't all about influencing others. Most
industries and human activities have little-known "tricks
of the trade." Wise real estate agents sell expensive homes,
for example, because they know it takes about the same amount
of work as selling low-priced homes, but the commissions can
be five times as high. Those who don't use this "secret"
struggle to make a living.
Certainly, subliminal techniques and other "forbidden
knowledge" can be used for good or bad, so are they dangerous?
Yes, especially if you're not in on the secret.
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