Examples of manipulation, bamboozling and seduction are everywhere: Experts dazzle you with jargon and mystifying technical language.  Physicians won’t answer your questions or they tell you to leave it to them because they are the experts.  Officials cloak themselves in the trappings of authority, using uniforms or fancy settings to cow you. Bureaucrats give you the run-around.  Clerks say it can’t be done. Bosses expect you to help them cheat. Co-workers harass you. Talk-show hosts or authors claim they are experts merely because they have Ph.Ds.  Smooth-talking salespeople trick you with persuasive selling techniques.  A committee chair bamboozles you into working on a committee you don’t really have time for.  Politicians seduce you to their point of view with sly imagery that plays with your emotions. The examples are nearly endless.  If you don’t recognize what they are doing or know how to stand up to them, they’ve got you.

Being manipulated and bamboozled can happen to anyone. Uncritically going along with authority and experts is easy. All kinds of people do it, including smart people. What can you do about it?  I am writing a book that will show you how to avoid being manipulated, bamboozled and seduced by experts and authorities.  You can earn to be more mindful of what experts and authorities say. You can learn techniques for spotting and avoiding manipulation by experts, for avoiding the “seduction of the situation,” and for standing up to unjust authority.  You’ll get guidelines on how to spot situational factors that affect you when you don’t even know it. You’ll learn how to avoid playing the passive role in a power relationship and how to avoid going along with the crowd.  You’ll read about positive strategies for making yourself less vulnerable beforehand to the pressures of authority and persuasion. 

Click here for more information about the book.

If you want ideas about how to handle a specific situation right now, you can write an inquiry to my column, "Sez Who?" which appears on the ISIL web site. You can address your query to me through my web site e-mail and I will write a brief answer to it in the next available ISIL column.

If you want more in depth suggestions or prefer not to wait, you can e-mail me for an appointment by telephone.  No charge for the first 10 minutes, in which I will let you know whether I can help you or not. If I can, my consultation fee is $75 for the first hour, $60 per hour thereafter.  I accept all major credit cards.


My credentials (or why my fee is worth it):

· Writing and researching a popular book on standing up to authority
· Author of many articles and speeches on authority.  See RIT web site.
· Ph.D. in Social Psychology, specializing in social influence and obedience and resistance to authority
· Years of practical experience dealing with authority and experts

Click here for ISIL Conference speech "Says Who? How to Avoid Being Manipulated, Bamboozled and Abused by Experts and Authorities