The focus of this book is exploring the seven different weapons of influence, or motives to convince or persuade people. But before it gets into the actual weapons, it introduces a concept called “Click Whirr,” which is an automated fixed-action pattern that causes animals and even humans to have an automatic reaction to certain behaviors without thinking about it. In humans, this automatic response can be beneficial when trying to save time and or the energy it would take to make the decision. However, it can be detrimental in certain cases and cause one to make mistakes especially when one makes the decision based on just a small part of the information, without taking it all in. The first weapon of influence discussed in the book is the weapon of reciprocation. Essentially the concept that it is normal in human culture for one to try and repay another after being provided with kind acts, goods or services, even when it is not explicitly needed. Eventually this rule of reciprocation can cause relationships and transactions to carry on for long periods of time because one person always feels they owe another. This chapter covered the fact that the way the reciprocity rule is often used is by giving someone something before asking for a favor. The book gives 3 reasons why this works, the first being that the rule is very powerful and often takes the place of other decision making factors. Second, the rule is used even when the first favor was uninvited. Third, the rule can create unequal exchanges for one to escape the feeling of owing someone else. The other tactic covered is one asking another for an extreme favor, and being rejecting, and subsequently asking a smaller favor that seems more reasonable, the second favor being the one the person wanted all along. This often makes the person being asked feel that they have to comply with the second favor because they rejected the first. This chapter also explains some of the best ways to prevent falling victim to the rule of reciprocity. The main defense is to accept favors but realize when they are genuine, and when they are being used to get something from you. The hope is that once someone feels that they are being used or tricked, they no longer feel an obligation to reciprocate the favor. The second weapon of influence discussed in the book is the weapon of commitment or consistency. This is referring to the fact that as humans, we strive to make sure our actions remain consistent with choices and commitments that we have already made. Many scientists believe that this power of consistency often forces us to make choices that we know are not in best interest with the hope of appearing consistent to our commitments. The desire to be consistent is fueled by 3 main factors, the first being that society gives high value to personal consistency. The second is that in many cases generally consistent behavior makes for a positive day to day lifestyle. The last is that consistency offers us a short cut in life because if we always act a certain way in a certain situation, when that situation presents itself, we don’t have to think, we just act as we have in the past. This chapter also covered the power of commitment in society and its connection with our desire for consistency. It explained that the majority of the power lies in securing the initial commitment, and that after that is done, people are more willing to fulfill requests and behave in ways that are consistent with the original commitment. There are also different levels of commitment, for example if someone commits to something in public with others around, they are even more likely to behave in a way consistent to the commitment than if they make it alone because there are multiple people to hold them accountable. One final point made about commitment is that it has the opportunity to grow, and as time goes on, we often create more reasons and justification for our original commitment. The defense tactic given to resist falling victim to the weapons of consistency and commitment was to recognize and refuse to give into consistency pressures by listening to our stomachs and our heart of hearts. The explanation here is that stomach signs come when we immediately see that someone is trying to get us to comply by commitment and or consistency pressures, and the best way to handle this is to rationally explain why it would not be smart to comply. The explanation behind heart of heart signs is that they are to be used when it is not immediately clear to us that a commitment isn’t in our best interest and the best way to deal with this is by asking yourself if you had the chance to go back and not make the commitment, what would you do. The third weapon of interest discussed was the weapon of social proof, or making decisions on how you act based on how those around you are acting. This supports the notion that if the majority of people are behaving in a certain way, that must be the correct way to behave, and that you should follow suit. The book explained that social proof has the most power under two conditions, the first being when uncertainty is present. When someone is unsure, or in an unfamiliar situation, they are likely to imitate the behaviors and reactions of those around them, and to hold those actions as being correct. The second condition where social proof is most powerful is when similarity is present. People tend to be more likely to follow those that are similar to them, than those who they are not like. There have been many social experiments and studies that have supported the concept of human nature being to follow those around you to behave acceptably. The defense mechanism against social proof given by the book is simply the recognition of faulty evidence that the behaviors of similar others are always correct, and that those actions should not be the entire basis for our decision making. The fourth weapon of influence discussed in the book was the weapon of liking. This is the concept that people prefer to comply with requests and say “yes” to people that they like. The book covered some of the influential factors that can increase one’s likeability to other people. The first factor is physical attractiveness. Research has shown that when someone is view by many as physically attractive, it is also common for people to think of that person highly in other regards unrelated to appearance, such as being talented, intelligent or successful. The second factor that influences liking is similarity. Just as people are prone to follow others similar to themselves, they are also prone to liking and being more willing to say yes to those people similar to themselves. Praise is also an influential factor in liking in that people are more willing to comply and say yes to people who have complemented them beforehand. The fourth factor of liking that was explored is the factor of familiarity. Repeated interaction, especially of the positive nature, often has the effect of creating liking between two people. The fifth factor of liking that was discussed is association. As with similarity, people tend to like thing that they feel an association with or that they feel a strong connection to. The possible defense mechanism against liking discussed in the book is to develop the ability to recognize when you are developing a liking for someone, and then be able to remove your feelings of the individual from your decision about his or her offer. The fifth weapon of influence covered in the book is authority. This deals with the notion that humans tend to follow the directions, actions or beliefs of people in authority roles simply because of their title, regardless of if the follower knows what they are being told, or doing is not right. One statement used to describe this concept is that society instills to its members that obedience constitutes correct behavior, despite the fact that that is not always the case. The book also touched on the fact that many people react purely to symbols of authority regardless of the content. Examples of these symbols are titles, clothing, automobiles, or anything that can constitute power. The book explained 2 questions that when asked to oneself, could help to defend against the weapon of authority. The first question being, “Is this authority truly an expert?” which is meant to dig deeper to find actual evidence of the individuals authority beyond symbols. The second question is, “How truthful can we expect this expert to be?” which is meant to not only consider the expert’s knowledge, but how the situation at hand could affect their truthfulness, and if the “expert,” has an angle. The sixth weapon of influence that was discussed was the weapon of scarcity. This is the principle that as things and opportunities become less available, they become more valuable to society. This concept has power because of 2 reasons, the first being that in many cases things that are hard to attain are valuable, so a shortcut is applied in decision making that all things hard to attain hold high value. The second is that as things become scarcer, we see it as losing the freedom to have those things, and give more value to those freedoms than we did before they were gone. Essentially the notion that you want something more when you know you can no longer have it. The book also discussed the scarcity principle in relation to its effect on the way we process information. Research has shown that limiting ones ability to get information or a message makes individuals not only want to receive it more, but become more agreeable to the message itself. The book explained that scarcity is most powerful under 2 conditions, the first being when items are newly scarce, meaning that we give more value to things that have recently become scarce than things that have been scarce all along. The second is that scarcity is stronger when mixed with competition with others for items or opportunities. The defense strategy provided in the book is to be alert to a rush of arousal in scarcity situations, and assess whether or not you would want the item or opportunity if it wasn’t being presented as scarce. The seventh and final weapon of influence covered in the book was the weapon of instant influence. This is the concept of making a decision or assumption about a person or situation by only using one highly representative piece of information about it, not all the relevant information available. This principle is becoming more and more prominent because technology is providing us with more and more information, choices and alternatives and knowledge, and it is becoming harder and harder to make decisions based on all information because there is so much. We no longer feel we have the time to properly analyze the pros and cons of situations and feel forced to use a short cut and make decisions based on one piece of evidence or information that we feel most correctly relates to the situation. This concept is present in all of the other 6 weapons of influence studied in the book, and the shortcut method makes all those weapons stronger. The best way to avoid the power of the shortcut method is to try as best you can to filter relevant information with irrelevant information, and make decisions based on all the facts or evidence, not just one overarching piece of information.