Comments on: Learn from master seducers

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:54:11 +0000

I completely agree, children are in fact, extremely amazing manipulators. I even remember doing these things as a child to ensure I get what I want.
For example, I used to go to the store with my mother and she’d let me pick out one toy to buy me. But I didn’t want one toy. I wanted two. So I’d pick my two favourite toys in my hands and tell her I couldn’t decide which i wanted. She’d always tell me I had to pick. I’d give her a pathetic look of indecisiveness and desperation, and claim that I absolutely couldn’t choose. So she’d buy me both. Worked every time.
My sisters did things like this as well. We were adorable little daughters who specialized in manipulating/guilting our parents into getting us what we wanted. And we were good at it.
Years later when we became young adults we randomly stumbled upon this topic in a conversation, and me and my sisters clued my mom into the fact that we totally manipulated her (when we were children) so she’d give us what we wanted. She was surprised. She had obviously thought we were just her sweet innocent girls and would never trick her into buying us things. Oh how wrong she was.
Not sure if all kids deliberately trick/manipulate their parents, but I sure know I did.

By: Zack Taylor

Zack Taylor — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:34:48 +0000

Re-read your last line. Ironically, doesn’t that seem to describe the “asshole” guys who always get the girls? You can argue that it’s not the most healthy way to act, but it’s a hard argument to say those traits are best left unemulated.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:43:33 +0000

This seems to be a tad overgeneralized, no? While there’s no question that the straight pursuit is the most effective, I’m pretty sure most women would think twice if a man is stepping over his friends to get to her.

And children are, well, children. Like you say, kids are intuitively manipulative. They are a lot smarter than they let on, and are keen observers of social interactions. But I wouldn’t call them psychologically un-needy, they are simply egocentric. Kids do not have empathy, because they cannot see from another person’s perspective. Kids are very needy – they bite and scream for attention, they can’t sleep without someone nearby, and they constantly broadcast their feelings. What do we call a narcissistic, shallow, and selfish person? Childish.

So when it comes to learning from children how to seduce, I think some caution is required. Kids have an admirable honesty, naivety, and fearlessness. They are also impulsive, egocentric, and needy – traits that are best left unemulated.