Can manipulation ever be a good thing?

I mean, yeah... usually the examples people give point out how and when manipulation is bad, and you ain't wrong....

but I was like thinking about manipulation in terms of helping the person when you have no personal self gain?

I did this to my mum, lol

Says she hates emails and refuses to learn them, she gets everyone else to do anything email related if they need it.

me: on a daily basis, starts sending them random links to YouTube videos I know she'll like.

Long story short, eventually she starts expecting daily interesting videos, starts checking email, gets curious about replying with more interesting videos,

feels comfortable sending it to me because if she makes mistakes it's not a huge issue.
Therefore she is practicing how to send email?

She's done a few email things now on her own, doesn't seem to hate it as much 🤔

technically manipulation?
or am I thinking of something else?

I dunno, random thoughts, lol

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Kwek00 · 41-45, M

Depending on how far you want to go with your view on what "manipulation" is... every interaction where someone absorbs a piece of data (listening, seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting) actively presented by another person, is a form of manipulation and has the possibility of changing their path.

These outcomes can either lead to good or bad things.

If the intent of the person presenting the data, has the objective to lead to a good thing for everyone involved, then manipulation can be considered "good". But you can also have another value system to determine if an action is good or not.

I'm at a point, where I abandon the idea of "free will" almost completely... that means that people (and their actions) are for a large part determined by their imput and their biological make up. People sometimes say that: "you are what you eat" ... but I think it's more correct to say that "you have a high chance to become what data you consume".

Tumbleweed · F

I don't consider that as manipulation as much as guidance. But to answer your question, yes, I do see situations where manipulation is definitely a helpful, healthy tool.

AuRevoir · 36-40, M

Conditional manipulation that rewards good behavior is a daily occurrence.

Insurance companies give you better rates the less accidents you have.

Banks reward you with higher interest returns the more money you are able to save.

Even some websites such as Reddit attempt to manipulate things with a karma social score. That one I personally think is bad but it still plays into the factor of “rewarding” the person for “good” behavior.

Therapy treatment groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous reward those sticking to their accountability goals.

Even the law will reward people who would otherwise face harsher punishments for their crimes if they complete things such as Anger Management courses and work on bettering their more negative attributes.

Rickichickie · 61-69, F

Seems kinda good thing to me. Lol

NativePortlander1970

I would call that guidance, not manipulation

Fishy · 36-40, F

@NativePortlander1970 isn't guidance more like giving advice tho?

I kinda felt like what I was doing was sneaky 😅

NativePortlander1970

@Fishy Yes and no, guidance is more like nudging than advice.

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