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fandomhigh2016-08-05 09:59 am
nuclear_snide) wrote in fandomhigh2016-08-05 09:59 am
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How to Win Friends and Influence People | Friday, period 1
Kanan had a techinicolor dalmatian with him today. He seemed less perturbed about that fact than even he felt like he should be, but he couldn't quite shake the thing, and he hadn't managed to nerve himself to dragging it back off the island and leaving it with its own kind again before the island had moved on.
That, and it cried whenever he left it behind in the apartment.
"How to win people to your way of thinking," he began, and then set the book down on the desk. "This chapter is full of things like 'avoiding arguments' and 'let the other person talk a lot.' Oh, and my personal favorite, 'let them think that your idea was their idea.'" Or something like that, anyway. Kanan was paraphrasing. He shook his head a bit. "And yeah, I guess people do love listening to themselves talk, but the amount of seeding you'd have to do in a conversation to make a person have the exact same idea as you while they're doing all the talking seems less like work and more like some kind of top spy espionage or something."
"Things like that tend to work best in arguments," Bob said. "Get them really annoyed, and they'll agree to things before they know what they're doing. Emotions are your tools." He grinned.
Kanan shook his head.
"A little pleasantness can go a long way. And actually taking into consideration the person you're talking to. You want to win someone over, engage them in a situation where they're comfortable and not on their guard. Ask 'em out for caf. Coffee." He gave Bob a side-eye, and then sighed. "Or you could bribe them."
That seemed to be an answer that came up a lot this semester already, okay?
It was a time-honored tradition! It worked!
"Trickery's a great way, too," Bob offered. "If they're not the sort to be won over by pure logic - if they are, well, there you go, just find a logical argument - get them to feel sorry for you, or as I said, annoy them, or just get them up in arms about something unrelated. Overly emotional people are less likely to accurately judge the worth of what you want. Get them on your side or violently against you, and they're easy to manipulate."
Which he'd actually learned from hundreds of years of manipulating people with talking, and not simply from watching politicians.
"So, pair up again, and pick something interesting, then try to get your partner to agree to your point of view. Any questions?"
That, and it cried whenever he left it behind in the apartment.
"How to win people to your way of thinking," he began, and then set the book down on the desk. "This chapter is full of things like 'avoiding arguments' and 'let the other person talk a lot.' Oh, and my personal favorite, 'let them think that your idea was their idea.'" Or something like that, anyway. Kanan was paraphrasing. He shook his head a bit. "And yeah, I guess people do love listening to themselves talk, but the amount of seeding you'd have to do in a conversation to make a person have the exact same idea as you while they're doing all the talking seems less like work and more like some kind of top spy espionage or something."
"Things like that tend to work best in arguments," Bob said. "Get them really annoyed, and they'll agree to things before they know what they're doing. Emotions are your tools." He grinned.
Kanan shook his head.
"A little pleasantness can go a long way. And actually taking into consideration the person you're talking to. You want to win someone over, engage them in a situation where they're comfortable and not on their guard. Ask 'em out for caf. Coffee." He gave Bob a side-eye, and then sighed. "Or you could bribe them."
That seemed to be an answer that came up a lot this semester already, okay?
It was a time-honored tradition! It worked!
"Trickery's a great way, too," Bob offered. "If they're not the sort to be won over by pure logic - if they are, well, there you go, just find a logical argument - get them to feel sorry for you, or as I said, annoy them, or just get them up in arms about something unrelated. Overly emotional people are less likely to accurately judge the worth of what you want. Get them on your side or violently against you, and they're easy to manipulate."
Which he'd actually learned from hundreds of years of manipulating people with talking, and not simply from watching politicians.
"So, pair up again, and pick something interesting, then try to get your partner to agree to your point of view. Any questions?"
Re: Talk to the teachers
"Yeah, I'll say," he agreed. "I guess humans didn't really have much going for them on a galactic scale yet, huh? The Boov are the first alien race you've encountered?"
Re: Talk to the teachers
Re: Talk to the teachers
Seriously, ouch. Kanan was trying to imagine a planet that was so cut off from everything else, and living one's entire life in such a place. The island was the closest he got, and it physically moved itself from world to world.
"I've got experience with hostile combatants," he noted, looking thoughtful, "but I came from a place where we prepared for that sort of thing. Good on you for making it through. But at the same time, I'm sorry it was something you had to experience at all. Not that sorry changes anything, I know."
Re: Talk to the teachers
Tip had an odd perspective on what constituted a normal life.
Re: Talk to the teachers
"... And the important part is that you walk away from it all in more or less one piece and the proper shape," he settled on. Because that part, at least, seemed fairly universal.
An orange.
Re: Talk to the teachers
"Plus, I've got some good material to write about," Tip said. ". . . Though I think I'll probably get a reputation as a surrealist at this point."
Re: Talk to the teachers
Re: Talk to the teachers
She had to be, at this point.