How is Donald Trump doing it?
January 26, 2016 3:37 PM Subscribe
Consider the possibility that Trump — a billionaire businessman with an Ivy League education and a best-selling author on dealmaking — isn't some blithering idiot blurting out populist nonsense. Instead, perhaps Trump is calculatedly using tried-and-true influencing and negotiating techniques — ones used by persuaders from carnival hypnotists to high-profile motivational speakers such as Tony Robbins — to literally mesmerize the GOP. [from The Week]
This post was deleted for the following reason: I dunno that we are in dire need of another venue in which to discuss Trump right now, sorry. -- restless_nomad
Oh, well, gee, if Scott Adams says so, then...
posted by trunk muffins at 3:45 PM on January 26, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by trunk muffins at 3:45 PM on January 26, 2016 [7 favorites]
I don't think he's really "mesmerizing the GOP" as much as just saying a bunch of hateful shit - in straightforward, un-coded language - that a large percentage of this country sadly just outright agrees with.
posted by windbox at 3:45 PM on January 26, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by windbox at 3:45 PM on January 26, 2016 [8 favorites]
Strongman authoritarian politics with racist and fascist themes becoming popular in a country with a crashing economy, few prospects, and stinging from failed wars? Why how unexpected and novel.
None of this is covert or subtext or hidden, it's right there in the open, the big strong man will fix things and everything will be good again and people will know their place.
posted by The Whelk at 3:46 PM on January 26, 2016 [13 favorites]
None of this is covert or subtext or hidden, it's right there in the open, the big strong man will fix things and everything will be good again and people will know their place.
posted by The Whelk at 3:46 PM on January 26, 2016 [13 favorites]
Oh, well, gee, if Scott Adams says so, then...
I don't know that guy but I hear he's really smart. We should listen to him.
posted by Sangermaine at 3:51 PM on January 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
I don't know that guy but I hear he's really smart. We should listen to him.
posted by Sangermaine at 3:51 PM on January 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
I don't think it's the hate. Well, for some, maybe. But hate doesn't get you 35%.
Lies do. The article calls it 'anchoring,' but but that's not what Trump is doing. He's just lying. Say something that isn't true, and say it often. Now when people hear the truth, they don't believe it.
Also effective, making up promises that can't be kept (a close cousin to lying). Walls at the Mexican border, 10% economic growth (or whatever it is he said he'd achieve), "beating" China and Iran at the negotiating table, and on and on.
He just lies and lies and lies.
posted by Frayed Knot at 3:52 PM on January 26, 2016
Lies do. The article calls it 'anchoring,' but but that's not what Trump is doing. He's just lying. Say something that isn't true, and say it often. Now when people hear the truth, they don't believe it.
Also effective, making up promises that can't be kept (a close cousin to lying). Walls at the Mexican border, 10% economic growth (or whatever it is he said he'd achieve), "beating" China and Iran at the negotiating table, and on and on.
He just lies and lies and lies.
posted by Frayed Knot at 3:52 PM on January 26, 2016
"What bullshit essentially misrepresents is neither the state of affairs to which it refers nor the beliefs of the speaker concerning that state of affairs. Those are what lies misrepresent, by virtue of being false. Since bullshit need not be false, it differs from lies in its misrepresentational intent. The bullshitter may not deceive us, or even intend to do so, either about the facts or about what he takes the facts to be. What he does necessarily attempt to deceive us about is his enterprise. His only indispensably distinctive characteristic is that in a certain way he misrepresents what he is up to.
"This is the crux of the distinction between him and the liar. Both he and the liar represent themselves falsely as endeavoring to communicate the truth. The success of each depends upon deceiving us about that. But the fact about himself that the liar hides is that he is attempting to lead us away from a correct apprehension of reality; we are not to know that he wants us to believe something he supposes to be false. The fact about himself that the bullshitter hides, on the other hand, is that the truth-values of his statements are of no central interest to him; what we are not to understand is that his intention is neither to report the truth nor to conceal it. This does not mean that his speech is anarchically impulsive, but that the motive guiding and controlling it is unconcerned with how the things about which he speaks truly are."
- Harry Frankfurt, On Bullshit
posted by a lungful of dragon at 3:52 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
"This is the crux of the distinction between him and the liar. Both he and the liar represent themselves falsely as endeavoring to communicate the truth. The success of each depends upon deceiving us about that. But the fact about himself that the liar hides is that he is attempting to lead us away from a correct apprehension of reality; we are not to know that he wants us to believe something he supposes to be false. The fact about himself that the bullshitter hides, on the other hand, is that the truth-values of his statements are of no central interest to him; what we are not to understand is that his intention is neither to report the truth nor to conceal it. This does not mean that his speech is anarchically impulsive, but that the motive guiding and controlling it is unconcerned with how the things about which he speaks truly are."
- Harry Frankfurt, On Bullshit
posted by a lungful of dragon at 3:52 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
These and other of Trump's "master persuader" tricks and techniques — including engineered insults like calling Jeb Bush "low energy" — have been outlined and explained since last summer in a series of prescient blog posts by cartoonist Scott Adams. Best known as creator of the Dilbert comic strip, Adams is also a Berkeley MBA and trained hypnotist.AND a certified Grade A genius!
Well, this article is nonsense, since it's inspired by Adams, but it's also wrong.
Trump is a bumbling moron who just says what he's thinking. People like that kind of honesty, they admire him because he's rich and on TV, and he hates the same people who they hate.
I think articles like this are simply trying to paint a world where 1/2 of the country isn't hateful racists, fools, and lunatics. I'm sorry, but Trump is popular simply because a ton of people agree with him.
posted by mmoncur at 3:53 PM on January 26, 2016
Those aren't "tried-and-true influencing and negotiating techniques." Heck, "influencing" and "negotiating" are different enough that putting them together like that is a bit daft. Trump didn't get where he is by negotiating – he was born to wealth, and his "boardroom negotiator" image is just that, an image, with which he has been branding himself for decades. He's no more a businessman than I am.
What Trump is doing could be vaguely called "influencing," but it's most appropriate to see this in the context of Trump's actual life; his entire adult career has been angled toward being known publicly as a businessman, building his "brand," and catching as much outrageous attention as possible, and when he buys and sells real estate it's always geared toward looking good, not toward making the money he knows he's more likely to make elsewhere. He is, in short, one of the most skilled reality television stars the industry has yet produced; and his entire campaign has been run on reality television premises with reality television techniques.
Here's a much better breakdown of his method:
How Donald Trump Answers a Question
posted by koeselitz at 3:54 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
What Trump is doing could be vaguely called "influencing," but it's most appropriate to see this in the context of Trump's actual life; his entire adult career has been angled toward being known publicly as a businessman, building his "brand," and catching as much outrageous attention as possible, and when he buys and sells real estate it's always geared toward looking good, not toward making the money he knows he's more likely to make elsewhere. He is, in short, one of the most skilled reality television stars the industry has yet produced; and his entire campaign has been run on reality television premises with reality television techniques.
Here's a much better breakdown of his method:
How Donald Trump Answers a Question
posted by koeselitz at 3:54 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Donald Trump says he's unlikely to debate: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/26/donald-trump-says-hes-unlikely-to-debate/?smid=tw-share
posted by glaucon at 3:56 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by glaucon at 3:56 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Scott Adams is a trained hypnotist? That's even a thing?
posted by shakespeherian at 3:57 PM on January 26, 2016
posted by shakespeherian at 3:57 PM on January 26, 2016
in a country with a crashing economy, few prospects, and stinging from failed wars
The Whelk
But the thing is, the American economy isn't crashing and the prospects for the near future are actually pretty good. The problems we face like inequality aren't due to a collapsing system, it's due to an unequally distributed system.
It's odd to see this repeated on MeFi because Trump and the Republicans thrive on exactly this kind of "the country is going to hell, we need to save it" stuff.
posted by Sangermaine at 3:57 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
The Whelk
But the thing is, the American economy isn't crashing and the prospects for the near future are actually pretty good. The problems we face like inequality aren't due to a collapsing system, it's due to an unequally distributed system.
It's odd to see this repeated on MeFi because Trump and the Republicans thrive on exactly this kind of "the country is going to hell, we need to save it" stuff.
posted by Sangermaine at 3:57 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."
posted by entropicamericana at 3:57 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by entropicamericana at 3:57 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Consider the possibility that Trump — a billionaire businessman with an Ivy League education and a best-selling author on dealmaking — isn't some blithering idiot blurting out populist nonsense. Instead, perhaps Trump is calculatedly using tried-and-true influencing and negotiating techniques — ones used by persuaders from carnival hypnotists to high-profile motivational speakers such as Tony Robbins — to literally mesmerize the GOP.
Why not both?
posted by Going To Maine at 3:57 PM on January 26, 2016
Why not both?
posted by Going To Maine at 3:57 PM on January 26, 2016
Trump is Hitler and I will ban Trump forever and you guys are the best.
*sits back and waits for 35% lead in favorites*
posted by Behemoth at 3:58 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
*sits back and waits for 35% lead in favorites*
posted by Behemoth at 3:58 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
What Donald Trump is promising is to put "those people" in their place, namely, hell.
Those who support him fall into two classes. The first are people who agree with that, and would be more that happy if Trump just flat out killed blacks, Hispanics, Muslims and gays, and probably Jews, uppity women, and the QB of that team.
The second are those deluded enough to think that Trump doesn't consider them "those people."
posted by eriko at 3:58 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
Those who support him fall into two classes. The first are people who agree with that, and would be more that happy if Trump just flat out killed blacks, Hispanics, Muslims and gays, and probably Jews, uppity women, and the QB of that team.
The second are those deluded enough to think that Trump doesn't consider them "those people."
posted by eriko at 3:58 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
Actually, I think a Russ Dothat column I saw this morning in the paper nails this.
Trump is a salesman. And what he is pulling right now on 30-40% of Republicans, which is about all the support he can draw, is a big dishonest sales job, also known as a con.
posted by bearwife at 3:58 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Trump is a salesman. And what he is pulling right now on 30-40% of Republicans, which is about all the support he can draw, is a big dishonest sales job, also known as a con.
posted by bearwife at 3:58 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't think Trump is a moron or a mastermind, I think he's a swindler who has the confidence borne of being someone that lots of people have to say "yes" to whether they want to or not. Money will do that to a person. He also craves attention and has figured out how to get it (be obnoxious in an entertaining way; say what people will pay attention to).
He is a piece of America's id, walking around in a flashy suit.
posted by emjaybee at 3:58 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
He is a piece of America's id, walking around in a flashy suit.
posted by emjaybee at 3:58 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
which is about all the support he can draw
This is a very dangerous assumption.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 3:59 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
This is a very dangerous assumption.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 3:59 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also, Republicans are quick to forget their marching orders from the previous election (well, the previous-previous one.) In 2008, as a freshman senator, Barack Obama didn't have enough political experience in Republicans' eyes. Now, the one Republican candidate who might guarantee the party a win hasn't even served as dog catcher, much less a state or U.S. senator.
posted by emelenjr at 4:00 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by emelenjr at 4:00 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Actually, I think a Russ Dothat column I saw this morning in the paper nails this.
You managed to misspell both his first and last name.
posted by andoatnp at 4:00 PM on January 26, 2016
You managed to misspell both his first and last name.
posted by andoatnp at 4:00 PM on January 26, 2016
« Older /boggle | I am a slut. Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 3:42 PM on January 26, 2016