The Manipulators

 The Manipulators

BY

MURALI MURTHY

Have you ever wondered why we do what we do?

Why do we worry and strongly react to something like Covid, that has extremely low chances of killing us, than 100s of other causes that is sure to kill us everyday? Why do we support a political candidate so blindly that we start ignoring the the policies that are doing more damage than progress? Why we are ok to kill an animal to eat it's Meat, but not ok to hit a dog with a stick? Why do we think our religion is in danger because of some other religion, when we are not doing anything to save our religion by simply following culture and traditions?

Human behaviour and our motivations are so subjective and self centred. Each of us have our own justifications to justify why we do what we do. Being Manipulative is one such aspect of us Humans.

How manipulative are you?

When I talk about manipulation, it's so tempting to write a whole article on how Politicians manipulate masses at ease, be it under the pretext of religion or rhetorics.

But I will try to keep this one generic and let my apolitical thoughts flow.

Is Manipulation a good thing? The word surely sounds Negative and is usually referred to when someone takes advantage of a weak mind.

I am manipulative, so are most of us. The line is extremely blur when I say I can convince someone on a particular aspect, the same can be construed as being Manipulative.

So, the 1 Crore Rupees question is: Does being Manipulative depict the person's cunning nature or being manipulated depict a weak mind?

It's like the saying goes "as long as there are those seeking god, there will be those who show god".

As long as there are feeble minds, there will be smart minds to manipulate others to get their way going.

I guess the subtleness between being convinced or manipulated, is the ability for the one manipulated to be able to effectively justify to others why he / she agrees to the view point.

Convincing usually happens based on logic, facts. When you tend to agree or believe in other's viewpoint based on emotions, feelings, rhetorics, you can safely assume you are the Bhakra for the Manipulators.

People do tend to agree to other's perspectives and tread the path of others, when they are blindly in love, have complete trust or when the other person is authoritative or you are simply in awe with the intelligence or oratory skills.

Manipulations are usually achieved by way of emotional blackmail which fogs the other person with fear, obligation or blind love. The Manipulators tend to put down the victim making them feel unworthy and find a way to foster a sense of inadequacy in the victim or the situation.

"Manipulating someone" usually is not intentional or a deliberate tactic, but just a way they adapt to get what they want..most of the times effective.

I knew a guy who adapted Manipulation as a way of life, and used every trick in the book to manipulate everyone around to lead a rather lethargic, thankless, jobless life. His end is ofcourse something no one will be proud of.

We all either Manipulate others around us or get manipulated in our daily lives, with or without our knowledge. Manipulation is a way to control others or control a situation.

To be manipulative is to speak or act in a way to more or less assure ourselves to get what we want. So manipulation is how most of us get love. It's a way to secure ourselves, as we do not expect the world to be kind to us. We do it everyday, to cover our insecurities under other's flaws.

Take this litmus test: If you like controlling, being authoritative, and have the appetite to be the responsible one, then you are the Manipulator.

If you like to be under the shadow of someone, like being the underdog, lack self confidence and think by heart, then you are the manipulated.