[simonh]

>The fact is that there is something deeply appealing about him.

I think the magic ingredient is utter, palpable self conviction. Complete unwavering dedication to your own rightness, regardless of any counter argument, any prevarication, even evidence to the contrary, is intoxicating. You don't need to argue, you don't need to convince, you don't need reasons, you're just right by definition. The simplicity and lack of complexity is intoxicating.

[zwkrt]

On a smaller scale, this is how people are able to build fiefdoms inside of companies, become successful local religious leaders, start cults, and maintain abusive domestic relationships.

Strong conviction is like a magical spell because it literally changes reality. Most people, myself included, are not really wired to be able to resist a constant force which is informing them of what “reality” is (not of its actual constituent components, but the framework of meaning and importance). This is normally a natural part of being human and living in society. We speak the language of the people around us, make the same foods, use the same body language. We think of society as the totality of what there is, but in reality it is providing us only a finite number of infinite options.

But every once in a while someone comes along who sense of reality is so self possessed that they create a force field around them. They change the set of available options for assigning meaning . Anything that falls into their event horizon is twisted and mangled by their totally consistent and unchangeable worldview, and it is contagious. If that person also happens to be charming, it’s all over.

The only way that I know not to fall into these kinds of traps is to regularly practice intentionally subverting or rejecting the norms around me. Not all of them, just the ones that don’t serve me. If I’m used to evaluating and potentially rejecting common practices in my culture (both societal and interpersonal), Then I know that if someone in my life is living in such a warp field that I will notice it since I am practiced in resisting its pull.

[benreesman]

I think the grievance husbandry is part of the cocktail too.

Obviously if your message is too complicated you’re going to lose people, but if you’re operating at an effective complexity level, you still need a story to tell.

“You’ve been very badly treated by not rich people, rather someone else” sells in job lots even today.

[simonh]

Good point. Resentment is the root of all evil. You create a narrative where you’re actually the real victims, and then that justifies ‘retaliation’ at almost any scale or severity. It even justifies lies or distortion because it’s in the service of a ‘greater truth’.

[watwut]

He was highly charizmatic and could adjust the way he talked to audience very well. Both in personal encounters and in public speeches. He would told you what you wanted to hear and project exact kind of personality he needed to project.

[dbcurtis]

a.k.a. reality distortion field

[simonh]

If that’s a Jobs reference, I don’t think so. He talked about hiring smart people so they could tell him what to do, owned his mistakes, changed course when things didn’t work as expected. He said making mistakes was good as long as you learned something. Yes he could be an arse, but he was no Donald Trump.