“What’s true about human motivation and how to influence and persuade people hasn’t really changed over the last 100 years,” I said.
“I completely disagree,” he said. “Everything has changed in the last five years, let alone fifteen.”
The conversation didn’t last long. We were talking about human motivation, influence, and persuasion. I am 67, and he is closer to 27.
Maybe I’m just old, but I’m pretty sure most of us . . .
- Crave affiliation (some prefer domination).
- Worry about status.
- Want what is scarce.
- Believe in the value and importance of reciprocity.
- Conform to the norms of our tribe.
- Prefer to appear consistent.
- Gravitate towards people we like and who appear to like us.
- Respond and show deference to those in authority.
What’s also true is that those “rules of the road” work well for us until they don’t. Leveraging those preferences is a classic tool of influence and persuasion.
It took us two million years to get this way. The internet didn’t change these dynamics. AI won’t either.