Manipulation.
I read a story written by a renowned writer named Robinson Crusoe. It’s a story that I find interesting enough to share with you today. But of course there are many details that I added in because I don’t fully remember the plot, so to make it more detailed I add them from my imagination.
Once upon a time a man bought a property in a place where people were attentive to superstitions, a man named Braulio wanted said property since he saw it but there were some details that he didn't like and he thought of solving them somehow.
There were some walls that he wanted to tear down but that would imply effort, money and a lot of time, so he put his imagination to work and thought of a plan that would not cost him much to remodel his old house.
So he started spreading the rumor that his house was haunted with some spirit appearing from time to time.
He invited some neighbors to his house and kept them distracted until his plan began to work.
He made a ghost out of some white sheets and prepared some gunpowder that could suddenly catch fire and cause a sudden fire to burn, the neighbors were at home when that ghostly figure appeared, a blinding light was lit and everything was covered with a horrible smell of sulfur.
Gradually many were fascinated by this presence and began to make their own conjectures. They said that the ghost was probably guarding buried treasure, so Braulio thought this was his chance to intervene, he suggested that since the house was in some places badly destroyed he would allow them to go in and if they found anything they would split it in half.
He also told them that this would bring debris and they should be responsible for picking up and throwing away what they found.
They all gladly accepted and little by little they began to tear down floors and walls. So that they would not feel disappointed, Mr. Braulio hid some coins and buried them.
In the next excavation they found the coins and he told them to keep them and to go on, as there were probably more coins.
So they did until they had demolished all the walls and floors that Mr. Braulio needed to demolish and, at a very cheap price because the few coins he gave them to find was not much compared to the job well done.
At the request of Mr. Braulio, they decided not to dig any more.
The lesson of this story lies in the fact that by taking advantage of people's beliefs and making a good plan with intelligence, many things can be achieved. People can be manipulated in such a way that they believe they are doing a favor to another and not the other way around.
In our daily life we meet masters of deception. They know how to use the verb in such a great way that we do not notice that we are being manipulated to do a task that in different circumstances can be a very forced task and also cost very expensive if it is done by trained people.
I hope you liked this story and I thank you as always for reading it.
Thanks to all of you my voters, commenters and sponsors, as well as @LykeLyca for renewing her sponsorship, thank you my friend.
Manipulators believe that they are gaining more when they take advantage of others, what in my country is called viveza criolla, what they do not know is that the universe balances everything and gives each one of us what we deserve according to our intentions and actions.