Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
by Robert B. Cialdini

Oct 2001

Fascinating… and Disturbing

Professor Cialdini takes a refreshing look at the frailties of the human mind, and his conclusions are a reminder of how damningly automatic a human response can be.

He illustrates how the behavioral / cultural conditioning we receive from birth, designed to make us functioning members of an orderly society, also creates exploitable weaknesses within our psychological frameworks.

These weaknesses are compelling (and permanent) because the patterns are so ingrained; we can't short-circuit them without short-circuiting beneficial social behavior patterns also. Thus the average individual remains fundamentally vulnerable to manipulators.

As I write this review in 2001 (post 9/11), the dangers that Cialdini writes of seem a striking parallel to the dangers of an open society, e.g., the open and free society we enjoy in America is vulnerable precisely because it is open and free.

As a trader, I bought this book to hone my understanding of human psychology and various influences on the decision making process, in the hope that Cialdini would shed a light on the complex emotional processes that lead to buying and selling. He surely did.

From this reviewer's vantage point, this book holds some offbeat yet powerful clues as to why the markets function the way they do (and why this will not change any time soon). Though knowledge and technology are fluid, human nature remains constant, and culture has a profound and lasting effect on behavior.

Highly recommended.