Ruizhi Lin - Week 11 - Language is Power
In 1998, Robert Greene released a book called The 48 Laws of Power. The book sold 1.2 million copies worldwide, raising the author to cult popularity among celebrities, business people, and inmates. In fact, the book became so well known among inmates that many prisons banned the book along with Greene’s other book, The Art of Seduction, citing the fear officials had in the book’s manipulation contents.
Some of the most notable laws are “say less than necessary”,
“when asking for help, appeal to people’s self-interest”, “isolation is
dangerous”, and “use selective honesty to gain trust. What all of these rules
have in common is that they need language and communication to pull off.
Take a Greek war before the Peloponnesian War as an example.
The islands of Corcyra and Corinth were on the brink of conflict and both
wanted Athens (who then had the most powerful navy back then) on their side.
The ambassador of Corcyra was bluntly honest, merely admitting that Corcyra
never helped Athens before but also pointed out how their large navy can be
used to check Sparta’s power. Corinth’s ambassador then talked at length on the
friendly histories between the two cities and tried to guilt trip the
government of Athens into taking their side. Athens ended up choosing Corcyra
over Corinth.
Corcyra understood what Athens wanted at that time, to gain
hegemony over all the Greek islands. By pointing out Athen’s interests, Corcyra
was able to outcompete Corinth. Meanwhile, all Corinth’s ambassador did was to
annoy Athens by pointing out their obligations.
Comments
I think it is crazy how people can easily manipulate others through selective language. I feel like I would be an easy victim for such things, unfortunately. I know that the First Amendment allows people to share this knowledge through books, but what if large populations began using this knowledge to manipulate others? When I was reading about the Greek War, I thought they would have chosen Corcyra because they explained their friendly history, but after reading why they chose the other side, I understand how playing to their self interest is more important than how friendly you are.
Robert Greene’s book truly exemplifies the dangers of a smart talker. Someone who is very persuasive may convince you to do something you normally wouldn’t, which is why I understand why prisons would ban this book for being too powerful. Your example of some of the laws of power through the Peloponnesian War was one that interested me; I’ve never heard about these islands nor do I know anything about Greek history, but I could clearly understand how these laws were utilized to Corcyra’s advantage. In this case, it wasn’t all about being obviously seeking out one’s personal interests like Corinth did, but knowing one’s target audience and presenting a more favorable discussion like Corcyra.
-Angel
I can confer that there have been some interesting laws created in history. As you can guess, many of these interesting laws are outright unfair and/or discriminatory. One such law that comes to mind for me is the Chinese Exclusion Act. In our anti-racist book that we were encouraged to read during the summer, I learned about this horrific law that was passed in America. I wonder what encourages people to make such outrageous laws such as these. I honestly feel like the word “law” itself presents a certain connotation within society. Some laws word ideas in ways that suggest incorrect beliefs at times. Our country really needs to reconsider the impact laws have on us when making new laws.
As we are all learning about U.S. history, we learned so much about just how the United States decided to handle situations by practically gaslighting others away. The Greek war portion that you mentioned is super interesting and it really describes just how laws are implemented to only benefit the party that made the law, not for the whole entire general public.
It is such a skill to pull this off manipulating someone with your words. Powerful and creative words could provoke someone to believe in something that the speaker wants then to believe diverting from what they want to hide. Similarly the art of magic or pickpockets diverts their victims attention toward somewhere else. This is similar but different at the same time as it could be acted through physical actions and not oral.
I will admit that I read over your blog twice because I forgot to understand the first time but as soon as I saw a historical connection I needed to understand what it was about. I found it really interesting how you tied in Greek mythology with a modern book because it really allows me to understand how the two ideas connect with each other.
Sincerely,
Mrinmmayee
I thought your post was really interesting. I liked the image you included, and I had a fun time reading the tips it gave. While some of the tips seemed basic things that many people do such as “plan until the end,” I was shocked at how many were very manipulative like “hide your radical thinking,” “play to people’s fantasies,” and “let your victims feel smarter.” I am surprised that this book was so influential that many prisons banned the book, and I wonder what events led to this happening.
The way we use the power we have is really important. I really liked the example you used where you talked about how Corcyra convinced Athens to defeat Corinth through appealing to Athen’s self interest and by being selectively honest. The way Corcyra used their power wasn’t by being entirely honest and honestly deceitful or manipulating. Could this be how foreign relations work? During the world wars we had, many countries used propaganda which was biased towards the country’s self interest and the country itself was not completely honest with its citizens. For example, American citizens were angry at the American government after the war, realizing that it wasn’t necessary for America to participate, unlike the exaggerated version propaganda has told them.
Sincerely,
Faith Tong