RE: virus: In That Special Way, a polemic

Richard Brodie (richard@brodietech.com)
Wed, 3 Feb 1999 07:06:39 -0800

No, it is not possible to speak in a way that is received by everyone in the way that you would like. Even Jesus spoke about this in his parable of the seeds... some fell on rocks and did not grow, some fell on roads and were trampled, but some fell on fertile soil.

Some of what you say will fall on deaf ears. Some will be misinterpreted or even violently disparaged by people with strongly conflicting worldviews or cynics. And some, with luck, will make a difference in someone's life.

Do you remember my demonstrating NLP techniques in front of you? You were giggling uncontrollably while the same messages were having a much different effect on others.

The vehement cynic is like a fire hose, spewing forth output without regard for input. Most people give up on them quickly. Yet when enlightened, the cynic can become a powerful force for good, if only because he or she knows how much better life can be from a new perspective.

Never surrender.
Never surrender.
Never surrender.
Never surrender.
Never surrender.

Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/ Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme" http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/votm.htm Free newsletter! Visit Meme Central at
http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-virus@lucifer.com [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com]On Behalf Of Tim Rhodes
Sent: Wednesday, February 3, 1999 2:33 AM To: Church of Virus
Subject: virus: In That Special Way, a polemic

Something has bothered me alot lately. I notice it often in conversations with my friends and others, and also on mailing lists such as this one. And it worries me. Not in small part because I fear I may fall into the same habit at times.

There is a certain tone that people often adopt when trying to be both gentle and persuasive, and usually behind a good cause, which nevertheless sets off all my "bullshit detectors" even when I know the speaker is both
(A) sincere and (B) wholy and completely right. [1] The sad thing is that I
am not alone in this. If it were just my bells and whistles being triggered and no one elses I could live with it. But I've sat idly by many a time as someone in the conversation has moved into this particular cadence and watched as all their listener's eyes glaze over and the immune response kicked in, deflecting everything usefull they had to say.

Is it actually possible to be positive, kind-hearted, persuasive and thoughful without sounding like a new-age, tree-hugging, born-again, pansy-assed git? And if so, how does one go about it?

-Prof. Tim

[1] As an aside, I suspect this factor is what has kept me from being able to take NLP, or the users of it, very seriously in actual practice.