What is instant influence? - Chapter 8

It becomes clear that we often use only part of the available information to determine the quality of a situation, a person, or an object. This results from the fact that we have only limited mental capacities that we have to work with. The previous principles were mentioned because they are the most reliable ones in guiding our behavior in an efficient manner.

We have to bear in mind that in our current environment, in which information is seldom older than 15 years and especially in physics and certain other areas, knowledge is assumed to double every eight years. Furthermore, what we perceive as important in our time is more diverse than in the past and it remains on the public agenda for a shorter time. We move (i.e. changing housing) and travel more often and faster. In addition, we encounter more people but maintain shorter relationships with them. In light of all these facts, it seems clear that the shortcuts that the mentioned principles provide us with are important. This is especially true since our technology evolves much faster than we are. Consequently, our information processing capacities are sometimes insufficient. This is why we should revolve against the exploitation of the mechanisms that are so obviously important. We can differentiates between those professionals who avoid using trickery in trying to gain our compliance (e.g. a salesperson that refers to genuine statistics showing the advantages of the product) and those who falsely claim to offer a bargain (e.g. companies using false experts, played by actors). They pose a risk to the reliability of these shortcuts, which become even more useful as the pace of technological advancement increases.