[westicle]

Some people seem to have an almost super-human level of charisma/ability to influence others (there is probably a D&D reference to be made here).

Certainly the trope is common in fiction. See: The Mentalist (both the protagonist and antagonist share this ability) and several Agatha Christie novels with similar storylines.

This guy sounds like a real-life Red John; able to subtly re-wire people's thinking so that they actually want to do what he suggests.

I have only ever experienced this in the formulaic pattern of dark-arts sales tactics. Israeli companies selling cosmetic products from the Dead Sea are notorious for making a superficial connection with their potential customers and then exploiting that connection for a sale. But those tactics aren't hard to see through and resist. Quite scary to think that someone who has mastered those techniques could actually alter my preferences simply with the power of suggestion.

[danbmil99]

> Some people seem to have an almost super-human level of charisma/ability to influence others

I think most people are completely unaware of how true this is. As students and tech geeks, we've all probably met someone whose talents seemed otherworldly -- mastery of Quantum math, able to punch out code like Notch, that sort of natural intellectual athleticism that seems like something they must have just been born with.

Well, in boardrooms and marketing departments, in politics, in places of power and sometimes just in random situations, there exist people for whom the ability to (at least seemingly) 'connect' with other people at a deep psychological level is similarly off the charts, in the vanishing 6-sigma rightward tail of the hump.

Of those few people, some percentage, say 1%, were additionally born without anything like a normal conscience. They are incapable of feeling guilt or the normal sort of empathy that makes one feel the suffering of another soul.

I believe that those are, for the most part, the people in charge of things.

[salemh]

There is an amount of fair criticism on the subject, but it has made sense (in my opinion), to equate these individuals as being very high in emotional intelligence / awareness of self, others, and the perceptions of themselves, by others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence

[danbmil99]

This may be true, but in my experience most "emotionally intelligent" people are also -- sometimes to a fault -- prone to really feeling other people's pain as their own.

The interesting combination for me is those with such "emotional intelligence" in that they can read people and figure out their motivations and feelings, but they don't have a significant empathic response, and they appear to feel little or no guilt in utilizing these perceptions for personal gain, regardless of the pain they inevitably cause to those who trusted them.

[JunkDNA]

I complety fell for one of those Israeli cosmetics things in the mall in my early 20's. My dad was in sales so I am accustomed to all the techniques of persuasion. But for some reason that day I bought $20 or so worth of skin care products I had no intention of using. When I got to my car, I was like, "what on EARTH just happened?!" I have never allowed myself to be so manipulated before or since. Creepy to think of those same techniques being applied to nefarious ends.

[westicle]

Tricking you into buying junk you don't need qualifies as a nefarious end in my book. But you're right; serial killers rarely have a cooling-off period or returns policy.

[rbanffy]

Deliberately exposing yourself to these salespeople is great training. As long as you don't buy anything.

I was twice targeted by timeshare resort companies. It's really high-pressure, but it's endless fun to see them escalating salespeople, from the junior interns to the really experienced mindbenders. From praising you for your success, to criticizing you for not living up to what was expected from you at your point in life.

Great exercise.

[visakanv]

OH yeah, happened to me too! The only reason I didn't buy was that I was completely, genuinely broke. Heh. She was so pretty and so thoughtful and persuasive and blah blah blah.

[girvo]

I worked with some of the best salespeople in telecommunications (retail) here in Australia, working for the second largest telco. They had this ability, and you can learn it with enough practice. By the time I left, I was #3 in the country for that telco.

It's scary to realise how powerful it can be. Once, one in of the guys had a girl who took two contract phones come back in utterly disbelief at what had happened about a half hour later: this was no ordinary buyers remorse.

The only way to avoid it is to not communicate with those people.

It helps with nearly everything you do in life. I find it amazing and scary.