Quotes About Manipulation

More than any previous coterie of corporations, the tech monopolies aspire to mold humanity into their desired image of it. They believe that they have the opportunity to complete the long merger between man and machine—to redirect the trajectory of human evolution.

We're watched on the Internet so that companies can more effectively sell us goods. The fact that Internet surveillance isn't totalitarian, however, doesn't mean that it does us no harm. We're watched so that we can be manipulated.

But there's another way to describe the convenience of the machine: It is the surrender of free will—algorithms make choices for us.

Deceptions are more frequent than changes

Trump, in the crinkling of an eye, senses better than anyone the insecurity of people, that nobody knows whether anything is good or bad until they are told, and he is quite willing to tell them immediately.

In the old days, there were three networks, and all of a sudden, Walter Cronkite is the most trusted man in America. Everybody believes what he says, not even thinking. In those days, we didn't even know it was being spun. We were very willing to just listen to it and go along with.

Bush and Blair combined their efforts to deceive both nations in a carefully coordinated manner, more so than anyone is willing to point out in the media.

The traits my grandfather came to value in Donald were the traits that were a result of my grandfather's maltreatment of Donald - the bullying, the tendency not to care about other people's feelings, the willingness to cheat, lie to get what he wanted. And eventually, my grandfather started to see a kindred spirit.

A willingness by politicians to say what they think the public want to hear, and a willingness by large parts of the public to believe what they are told by populist politicians, has led to a deterioration in our public discourse.

Our sense of power is more vivid when we break a man's spirit than when we win his heart.

Did I go out and make calls in those games that the NBA wanted me and the crew to call? Absolutely. Did it put a team at an advantage and a disadvantage? Absolutely and that's how I was able to win the bets so easily.

Donald Trump should not be underestimated. He'll say or do anything to suck the wind out of the news cycle. His reach and influence on social media are immense and are only rivaled by a tiny handful of people in the world. He's dirty. He doesn't fight fair.

Years ago, I was watching a debate on Fox News, when I thought, 'These guys are basically like pranksters, they bring the people in and wind them up.' I was like, 'That's what I do!'

If you think of data as kind of an x-ray of our soul, it's this window into our minds that the company has possessed. It's a very, very powerful x-ray for them to hold because the more that you understand about somebody, the easier it is to manipulate them.

Wine is a turncoat; first a friend and then an enemy.

Seduction is often difficult to distinguish from rape. In seduction, the rapist often bothers to buy a bottle of wine.

If you heard 40 times in a day that Newt Gingrich takes the wings off of butterflies, eventually you'd believe it.

In Washington, 'delay' is too often code for 'derail.' Wink, wink.

Psychopaths view any social exchange as a 'feeding opportunity,' a contest or a test of wills in which there can be only one winner. Their motives are to manipulate and take, ruthlessly and without remorse.

Much as Cold War nuclear strategists could argue about winning a nuclear war by having more survivors, advocates of a Global Warming War might see the United States, Western Europe, or Russia as better able to ride out climate disruption and manipulation than, say, China or the countries of the Middle East.

We've never met before and I start telling you how much I love your favorite musicians, how I watch the same TV as you do, etc. You realize the reason I'm so perfect for you is because I spent the last two years going through your photo albums, reading your text messages and talking to your friends. Facebook is that stalker.

A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns.

Persuasion is often more effectual than force.

It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.