'The secret of success is sincerity, fake that and you've got it made'
You've heard from Kant and Heidegger but i go one better and give you a Bob Monkhouse quote. It's a joke but like most good ones, there is truth within.
Most people who succeed in life have had to 'learn' sincerity, as our body language very often betrays our true feelings while communicating verbally. We can't be in a good mood all the time, we often feel tired, have a hangover or simply don't like the person we are talking to very much but need to be nice to them for professional or social reasons. This is where we need to 'lie'. Those who we perceive on television or in business as nice people, are very often highly skilled and trained in the dark arts of body language and speech.
One such art is NLP (neuro-linguistic programming). It started in the '70s as a form of psychoanalysis for barmy Americans but has subsequently become the tool of choice for middle-management twats and over-sexed predatory males. My mate swears by it (I don't like him any less; well, maybe a bit), mainly for the pursuit of 'chatting up' the opposite sex. It involves a network of learnt body language, suggestive comments and embedded subliminal messages. His favourite is something about a 'new direction'/'nude erection'. You get the idea. Voltaire once said 'give me five minutes to talk away my face and I'll bed the Queen of France' he may have been an NLP disciple.
Is it 'faked sincerity'? i don't know. To my mind, it's at best a little dishonest and at worst a little weird and creepy. That said, i suppose it is designed to portray ones real intentions and it certainly does that. The deception still impacts on its recipient though, who is usually unaware it's being used. It would be interesting to know if anyone here has been aware of it being used on them. I once met a guy who was trying to sell something to the company i used to work for, who i'm sure tried to use it on me. I just thought he was a nob.
for more info on body language and NLP (it's not a cult, honest guvnor) click here:
http://www.nlpinfo.com/
http://www.bodylanguageexpert.co.uk/
Two words...Derren Brown - I think he's an absoulte genious but find him inherently creepy at the same time. I'm sure NLP and years of disciplined training are at the route of his talents but I find his tricks/illusions (what you will) unfathomable, some of which defy rational explanation. I am not easily deceived but he certainly gets the better of me. I'll post a link to his site on my blog. His last tour was entitled 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' taken from Shakespeare but nicked by Ray Bradbury, which leads to another post I have yet to compose...did you see the seamless link there? I should have been in television...
ReplyDeleteHow about this for fake sincerity.."I urge anyone who feels unfairly targeted to contact Council and appeal to the independent fines tribunal which was created by the Lord Mayor a few years back to deal with these issues"..3 March 2010. This implies Graham cares about injustice but it shouldn't be forgotton that somebody (Graham) is deputy Mayor and is in charge of whoever ORDERED the parking infringement people to go out after midnight and fine people.I'm reminded of George Costanza getting fired for having sex with his secretary on the desk at work. He says to his boss in his own defence"Was that wrong?? I mean if someone had've told me that was wrong I never would've done it.." ...Fake sincerity.
ReplyDeleteHahaha! me thinks you may have the wrong Mr.Quirk...this one walked back to his car this evening having only paid 50p for 3 hours - you have made my day! lmao!
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