How does one manipulate fantasy? Is it simply subject to making the unreal and the out-of-this-world believable? Is it simply giving the people what they want, or, at least making the people hear what they want to hear? Playing to people’s fantasies may seem easy enough, but playing it effectively and making sure that it stays a fantasy – without getting into trouble for not following through – is the tricky part.
The most important concept to keep in mind when playing with someone’s fantasy is pleasure. The more pleasurable and desirable it is, the more power he has over his subject. Consequentially, the more power he is able to attain, the more effective the fantasy becomes. And winning them over is easily accomplished because pleasure is something that people want and need to the point that they are blinded from reality, most especially when these people are in need of relief from suffering.
In the movie 300, King Xerxes tried persuading people into thinking that he is a god by playing with their fantasies. He said that he can offer them wealth beyond their imagination. He said that he has countless women who are part of his harem, and who will be at their every whim, satisfying their every desire. He also said that he would even spare their lives, which, in a way, can be considered cheating death. And in order to attain everything, all they have to do is carry out the simple task of bowing down before Xerxes. What more can you ask for? An easy task in exchange for what seems to be more than just survival. It’s life on a silver platter.
Keep in mind and be sure to “never come too close to the place where you are actually expected to produce results.” Once the public demands proof of their fantasies, and you’ve got nothing to show for, then too bad. After all, one can only bend reality to a certain extent.
Ironic, isn’t it? Who knew that the power of fantasies, something that can be fabricated by one’s own imagination without boundaries and limits, can only go so far?
Juan Carlos Miguel Galvez
Hi18 – L
18 comments:
i have a lot of respect for this law because it's difficult to determine what people want. however, after determining what people want, the Visionary is capable of -- not only answering that need -- but creating alternative solutions to answer that need.
however, i think that another direction this law can take is through the production of fantasy, not merely its manipulation. if you create a need then you can gauge how much the people will want it, you can propose solutions and different approaches to cater to that need, you have control. and control is power.
kyra ballesteros Hi18 K
This law reminds me of my law, somewhat. Discover each man's thumbscrew. Discover each man's weakness and manipulate it.
Knowing each man's fantasy is similar to knowing each man's weakness in that you have to know what you can exploit. What is it that they want that you can "give"?
What does this statement mean, though? “never come too close to the place where you are actually expected to produce results.”
As in, in your example, don't let them go to war so that their lives will be spared or something? Don't go to the place where you have to fulfill your promises? (Sorry, I haven't watched 300.)
As for your last paragraph, yes, fantasy itself is limitless, and you can only push people's fantasies so far, but I believe that the possibilities of using that power is limitless in the sense that a person has a lot of fantasies so you can push different buttons at different pressures to produce your desired results. How you use the power you have is limitless, if you use it the right way, don't you think?
Theresa Rosario Tan
hi18k
of course fantasies have limits. the same thing that gives fantasies so much power over someone is the same thing that can make you sad or frustrated. the super wild fantasies people want, most of them stay in la-la world and won't ever get the chance of being transported to reality. So yes, you've gotta be sure you're careful about the things you are offering or promising because once the person is dissatisfied with these staying as fantasies, you're in big trouble. Even when you do manage to make a try in reproducing these fantasies, a person won't always come away satisfied because nothing can be as good as he had imagined it to be.
monica ang, L
Playing around with someone's fantasies can be really tricky. If you play your cards right, you can get a LOT out of the person being played with. This law clearly gets its power from human nature. People naturally desire things, which are more often than not for their own benefit. It's pretty much engraved in their being. Being offered something that one truly wants is hard to put down, thus the person gives in.
In the world of business, this law is clearly applied. If a magazine has a creative director that increased sales by applying effective innovative ideas, other magazines would love to have him or her on their team. By applying this law, they could offer the person a raise in salary and various company benefits. The things being offered could be seen as means for the individual to attain his or her fantasies, at the same time he is made to join the new company, which applied that very law to get that person to join them in the first place.
in this law, it is of utmost importance to think first before you speak. if you play to people's fantasies, you must at least make sure that the fantasies you can help them attain are fantasies that you can reach, not out-of-this-world fantasies. you're right, because when the time comes for you to produce results and make their fantasies come true but you have nothing to show for it, then you're in a whole lot of trouble. so one really has to plan carefully about the fantasies. once you're sure that everything will go well, then that is the time you play to other people's fantasies.
also, it is important to carefully choose the people you will trick. they must be people you can easily control. at the same time they must be gullible not ask unwanted questions when the time comes.
if this law works out, then you can really be successful because you can get others to do the things you want. but ya, this law does have certain limitations. one has to hope that everything will turn out well and as planned.
-Philip Albert T. Verde
Hi18 K
The power of fantasies has a limitation, that's true. But that's because everyone has different ways of thinking - different ways of imagining - and therefore, different fantasies.
I think in this law, it's like the "limit" will be reached if the fantasies one tries to present to people are becoming different from what the people wants, and therefore, they try to look for proofs for that fantasy (which they aren't the ones who came up with.) of course, one's fantasies are, most of the time, things they want to actually happen...if the person trying to follow this law gives others a fantasy they didn't dream of, or something that they think will not happen, their response will be to look for proof.
i think the key to making this law work is to really know what the people's fantasies are. Choose a "wrong" fantasy to play to, and only bad outcomes are to be expected.
Chris Macalinao
Hi18-L
A similar concept that can explain this law is the concept of peripheral persuasion in social psychology. Persuading people by playing on their fantasies rather than appealing to their rational devices seem to work to a persuader's advantage by giving the persuader a lot of power over the persuaded.
Consider the 1838 War of the Worlds radio broadcast. It was originally meant only as a fictional Halloween radio program, but the show was so convincing that over 1.2 million people believed that the world was ending and aliens were taking over the planet (no kidding).
The radio program only mentioned that it was fictional at the beginning of the broadcast, and since most listeners were not able to hear the first part of the program, they took the radio drama to be completely true.
This is a good example of playing on people's fantasies. Even if people are capable of rational thinking, a good persuader can play on people's fantasies to make fantasy seem like reality. As exhibited by the example, a good persuader can make even the most absurd things believable, and consequently, gain power over those foolish enough to believe.
Read more about the War of the Worlds broadcast here.
Chio Cebrero
Hi 18 L
I love movies where the villain promises so much to this one guy to help him bring down the hero. Once the guy agrees to all the villain's requests, he then asks for his reward. The villain then kills him and focuses his sights on the hero.
It's a classic in movies like Lotr, the Departed, Air Force One and a lot of action movies. Manipulate, manipulate, manipulate.
Denis Flores
Hi 18K
I like Denis' observation! True, villains definitely are capable of luring the protagonists in the story. They always know how to successfully get a hold of them and seem to know their weakest spots. Convincing never seemed to be a problem for many. Almost always, they manage to bribe them into doing something for their benefit without having to really pay them for their efforts in the end. For extra proof, just think about Joker in The Batman movie. This law was something he managed to execute professionally.
Krizia Javate
Hi18-K
Krizia Javate
Hi18-K
I believe there is more to manipulating fantasies. Fantasies can be measured by how much proof you can actually come up with. Proof can be misdirecting in a sense that proof can be coincidental. For instance you tell someone you can read minds and tell him that he will get 1,000,000 dollars tomorrow. That person then asks for proof of your psychic powers. You tell him that a plane will pass by at that very moment. When he looks up a plane actually passes. With that you have proved that you are psychic.
You did not however mention that you were standing near an airport waiting for a flight that was just about to land.
Fantasies then is about misdirection and using what you have to your advantage.
I think that one will only be able to perform this successfully if the enemy shows his/her/their weaknesses and what is important to him/her/them. by doing that mistake, the enemy will be vulnerable and will be targeted where it hits the hardest. and this is one example of it, which is by manipulation through fantasies. the enemy will be lured into the trap and eventually be taken down.
John Kristoffer M. Gomez
hi18 - section L
It is quite interesting how this law says that fantasies can only go so far. One thing that should be borderless is now presented as limited. Actually, it goes both ways. If the people's fantasies are too grand, then there is absolutely no way for you to play to their fantasies if you don't have enough to offer them. But if the people's fantasies are low and mediocre, when you try to play to their fantasies, they might not listen to you at all because they know themselves that their fantasies are attainable, with or without you. So in trying to play to people's fantasies, one must make sure that these fantasies are out of reach of the people you're trying to persuade. If not, its pretty useless... but come to think of it, most people are greedy and tend to want much more than what they already have. So maybe this law has more range than what I initially thought.
Ayo Canlas
Hi 18 L
Mmmm, this one may be a bit hard to implement. Especially if you offer them pleasures, people might see through your disguise and discern your ulterior motive. Even when you hold the monopoly over them in presenting them with their own lives--therefore portraying the 'fantasy' of survival--in the long run you'll be easily seen as ruthless and manipulative. I dunno, there's gotta be a better way to get them to come to terms of submission.
Peep Warren
Hi18-L
I have to agree with Paolo Banaga when he says that "playing around with someone's fantasies can be really tricky," especially in this day and age wherein people expect to see results (or they demand their money back), but after deceiving someone and tricking them into doing whatever it is you want them to do, can you really offer them a 30-day-money-back guarantee when they find out that you are unable to follow through?
This law will only be successful if one is able to effectively play to people's fantasies without them expecting anything concrete from you. A difficult, nearly impossible feat today, don't you think?
Elise Noelle Anne Lim
Hi18 Section L
Very interesting points. People's fantasies are comprised of needs and pleasures and being able to play with those concepts can be very tricky. One has to be really careful as the other party might be able to recognize the disguise. What's ironic is that one has to play up with never ending fantasies with limitations; this way, it would be effective.
Czarina Kathryne Masagca
Hi18-L
i just wanted to point out that playing to people's fears weakens them as much as playing to their fantasies strengthens you. it's the same thing, basically. people believe what they want to believe. the apple of discord worked because the goddesses all felt threatened by each other.
Du, L
(attach to above comment) like what theresa said.
Du, L
The thing with this law is, it comes with a price. When you promise people something out of their wildest imaginations, they will expect something out of their wildest imaginations. And after they help you rise to power, they will be waiting.
And then there's the manipulation. They can very easily realize that you've been playing them. That means you would have signed your death certificate. So you definitely have to be careful with this one. The people can help you rise to power. They can just as easily contribute to your downfall. After all, if you lose your followers, who will you have power over?
Sam Bautista
Hi18-K
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