Practicing Persuasion instead of Coercion this Holiday
December 31, 2012 1 Comment
With the holiday season wrapping up family may have already left. If not, try to amp your powers of persuasion this year–rather than coercion–thanks to the example of Frank Oppenheimer,
And the difference is crucial: Persuasion requires understanding. Coercion requires only power. We usually equate coercion with obvious force, but sometimes it’s far more subtle. If you want people to stop smoking, for example, you don’t need to make it illegal; you can simply make smoking expensive (raise taxes) or offer bribes (lower health insurance premiums). Both are still coercive in that the power to give or take away resides entirely in the hands of the “coercer.”
Via Slate.com
It is interesting how the two ways can be really affected. In coercion,the government can use in a way that can really bring to effect. However, on my point of view the power of persuasion can be more effective and long lasting. Simply for the fact that Persuasion will result to the person to do something according to their own will. persuasion is both notoriously difficult to pull off and almost impossible to resist when done well.
One important example that we can find about persuasion is during the elections. In a way, the candidate that can use persuasion on your favor, is more likely to be elected.
“the personal confession, the unconvincing attempts by extraordinary men (if only in the size of their egos) to persuade voters they are just like them”(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/07/election-obama-victory-speech-poignant)
Coercion can be done, however, is more costly and not as affected.