Persuasion

I've been wrestling lately with the concept of persuasion, and its implications for advertising, sales, politics, religion, business decisions, etc. There seems to be a point where it becomes morally corrupt. This is a follow-on to Edward Tufte's observation that making a presentation is both an intellectual and a moral activity (as noted in a previous post).

If you really love someone, you naturally desire what is best for them; you look out for their best interests, even to the point of personal sacrifice. If the person you love is a functioning adult, then part of loving them is respecting their ability to make their own choices. If they make a wise choice, then they'll benefit from it. If they make a foolish choice, then hopefully they'll learn from the experience and make wiser choices in the future; it's part of the process of maturing. Persuasion in this context takes the form of desiring what is best for them, explaining your perspective, listening to theirs, and respecting their right to make their own choice. This is a moral goodness.

On the other hand, most of the attempts at persuasion that I see are motivated by self-interest. The person or organization (people) involved is not looking out for the best interests of the person they're trying to persuade; rather, they're trying to manipulate the person into a behavior that suits their self-interest (voting a certain way, buying a certain product, believing something, etc.). They present partial information (leaving out contradicting evidence), create a false sense of urgency, make an emotional appeal intended to override a rational choice, and other forms of manipulation. This is morally corrupt. What can make it particularly tricky, is when it's for a noble cause; the persuader can be tempted to use corrupt means to try to achieve a good end.

I'm still thinking about it, but these seem to be the two main drivers for noble persuasion: (1) looking out for the interests of others, and (2) respecting people's right to make their own decisions.