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It ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it
Can we communicate and not manipulate?
I first encountered behavioural science many decades ago — long before I discovered Kahneman, Thaler, Ariely and co. Moreover, it was not even in an academic paper, but in a book by a humourist named Samuel Clemens, better known under his nom-de-plume of Mark Twain.
In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, he describes how the main character, having been caught playing truant, is told he must whitewash his aunt’s fence the next Saturday as punishment. He has not long been doing so, when one of his mates, Ben, approaches, taunting Tom for having to work while he can go swimming. Tom, however, takes no notice and proceeds to give all his attention to the fence, closely inspecting the result and adding a touch here and there. Ben keeps on mocking, but Tom points out that whitewashing a fence is a special thing, not something you get the chance to do every day.
Before long, the other boy asks whether he can do a bit of whitewashing, but Tom will have none of it. His aunt is very particular and expects top quality work, definitely not something anyone could do. Eventually Ben offers his apple if he can whitewash just a small bit of the fence, and Tom relents. Soon others arrive — “they came to jeer, but remained to whitewash”. With every one, Tom plays a…
