Manipulation according to Merriam-Webster is “to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage”. (1) I think manipulation is an evil thing or could be used as a good thing. Manipulation has been in history since the beginning and will still be used in police integrations, crimes, and bullying. Liam G said about manipulation “Manipulation is a very fickle thing as it can be used for used for both good intentions and bad intentions, however, it itself is the wrong thing in the “wrong thing for the right reason”.”
People have used manipulation as a bad for their own doings, like Charles Manson, for example, who made a cult had convinced a girl to kill sneak into two homes in Los Angeles, California to murder people they had never met. (2) That man wouldn’t be the only serial killer to use manipulation to his advantage, Ted Bundy would also use it in another way. He would convince both police and young college girls that he wasn't a creepy serial killer just because of how he dressed and on how calm he was. (3)
Another way manipulation has hurt people is from bullying. Bullies use manipulation against their victims to feel more powerful. They do this, oddly enough, because they were probably also bullied or raised and manipulate that way without knowing it. (4)
Though manipulation has can use for evil, it does have its benefits, like police interrogations. Police use manipulation for interrogations like lie detectors (polygraph test). The polygraph test works by measuring stress, it can't actually monitor if you’re telling the truth or not. So as long as you stay calm, you pass the test. Even though this is the case, not that many people know that so the police can manipulate those nervous criminals who are scared of getting tested into testifying. (5)
But that being said, manipulation has been used against us as a whole, called marketing. They have manipulated us by just using fancy text and colorful images and statistics getting into your subconscious and making you go, ‘Hey I do need [something not useful]’ (6)
I asked one of my good friends, Baylie, and she said “Manipulation is both good and bad, depending on its use. However, when most people think of manipulation, they think of a villain or politician. But manipulation can also be used as a method of motivation, like how a parent might use bribery to manipulate a child to clean their room, but on the flip side of the coin, manipulation can be used for...less noble purposes. Like manipulating someone to do something highly illegal for example.”
Also, Governments have used against other governments, Most famous being the Cold War. The Cold War was literally both sides of the war (Americans and the Soviet Union) saying ‘Hey, We have bigger and meaner weapons than you.’ when sometimes we didn’t. We manipulated each other into thinking the other has a bigger and meaner weapon. (7)
In conclusion, manipulation can be used for both good and bad. It can be hidden anywhere, anytime, and be done by anyone. Manipulation could be hidden or blatant, like in the book/short story/ movie, Ender's Game. In the book, Lieutenant Anderson manipulates Ender into killing an entire homeworld of an alien race. Which I honestly think is something completely evil, because now all of those souls will haunt one tiny child. It just proves that manipulation is evil.
Work cited (in order of use)
(2) Staff, NPR. “Charles Manson: Master Manipulator, Even As A Child.” NPR, NPR, 4 Aug. 2013, www.npr.org/2013/08/04/206652873/charles-manson-master-manipulator-even-as-a-child.
(3) “Ted Bundy | Serial Killers | Crime Library.” Crime Museum, www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/serial-killers/ted-bundy/.
(4) “Why Do People Bully? The Scientific Reasons - Ditch the Label.” Ditch the Label (USA), 8 Jan. 2019, us.ditchthelabel.org/why-do-people-bully/.
(5) “The Truth About Lie Detectors (Aka Polygraph Tests).” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/research/action/polygraph.
(6) “The Psychology of Advertising, Manipulation in Advertising | StopAd.” StopAd Blog: Practical Content and Insights, Not Just about Ads, 24 May 2018, stopad.io/blog/manipulating-maslow-how-advertising-is-hijacking-our-heads-and-making-us-unhappy.
(7) Editors, History.com. “Cold War History.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cold-war-history .
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