Persuasion

Is being persuasive honest? By definition, persuasion is simply to be convincing. Through reasoning and conviction, another person’s opinion or belief can be changed  to better compliment your own. They assume your position in a matter but they do it because they are “persuaded”. I have always considered persuasiveness as somewhat devious and deceptive. It is not the capability of talking someone into my brand of thinking; rather, it is talking them OUT of their’s. Didn’t they have a reason for their beliefs? Didn’t they have some convictions as to why they supported a certain position?

I stopped trying to persuade people from their positions. People will believe what they want to believe. Trying to convince them otherwise seemed fruitless and maybe a bit duplicitous. So, let them have their own thoughts and let then keep their opinions, be they political, religious, ethnic or gender related. You can spend an inordinate amount of time trying to reason with someone about a candidate, an issue, a petition or a cause. But it may take persuasion to change them and in there lies the sense that it is deceptive. Only by the acts of a very persuasive person, can some opinions be changed. And why do they change? Because the argument is so much more convincing? Or, is it spin? The fine art of half truths and partial falsehoods. Persuasion involves leverage, but facts are facts. How do you make the bare naked facts MORE persuasive? The truth is the truth. Right?

Persuade me if I am wrong.

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