How to Truly Change a Person's Mind: A Psychological Breakdown

Power of the Mind

“It is easier to fool someone, than to tell someone they are being fooled.” – Mark Twain

When one’s way of living is perceived to have been threatened, directly or indirectly, one will lash out and shell their mind from the supposed threat. This is a defense mechanism that the mind has created, to help one stay aware and alert to a virtue-attack. This is why one may notice that politics can spark crazy reactions out of people, because the mind combines personal virtue with politics. Politics indirectly becomes an identity, due to voting on one’s own personal beliefs.

How do we get through this barrier?

One can lay out facts at another, but if it is perceived as a “personal” attack, one cannot truly get through to the other. With this psychological trait, there are a few things we as people can do to convince someone to think outside of their unconscious being. The first is to show, rather than verbalize. A quick example could be how Tony Robbins personalizes his lectures, and makes the person actually act out what he is trying to prove as correct. Show a person how to hold a baseball bat, do not tell them; show a person how to live a happy life, do not tell them.

Another tactic that can be used, is to destroy a person’s way of thinking by their own words. Personalization is key: this is the key to sales, manipulation, relationships, etc. By showing active listening skills, a person will reciprocate what is said, due to the ego. This simple phrase will guarantee one’s counterpart to take in what is said next, while building relationship and rapport through the ego: “Just like you said earlier…”

Understand One Must Want to Change

“Well done is better than well said.” – Benjamin Franklin

Whether one chooses to replicate Socrates, by dismantling a point of view by only asking questions, or the Machiavellian approach of striking fear into the other party, or the Jesus approach of showing that he was right all along, one must understand how to lead someone to their beliefs.

One can give a drug addict $100,000 to quit drugs, but if they do not want to change, they won’t. One can show someone how to lose weight by dieting and exercise, but if they do not want to change they won’t. One can show someone how to reach eternal life, but if they do not want to change,

They won’t.

It is easy to lead the lost, because they themselves are actively looking for a new way. This can be completed by kindness and knowledge. But for the steadfast, you must destroy or prove wrong through action. One must humiliate one’s virtue, to bring them to the right path. A good example from the Bible, is when Elijah told the Baal-worshippers to call fire from their false God, while he himself would do the same. The “Baal’s” tried and tried again with no result, Elijah wet the altar, and called fire from heaven.

The Baal-worshippers were immediately executed.

Elijah humiliated the pagan-religion, and this is what must be done for the religiously steadfast. They already think they have the correct viewpoint, so what does gentle coddling do? Take the Sam Shamoun approach, one must break and humiliate the other party’s religion. I do not know if Sam Shamoun walks how he talks, but if one can dismantle an argument, and then shine the Christian light on to the counterpart, then the success rate will be much higher than bible verse memorization and kindness.

Jesus crafted a whip out of cords, because he knew that the religiously steadfast would not listen to words, but listen through action, destruction, and humiliation of their “virtues.”