Become Hard To Manipulate
Most of what shapes your decisions wasn't put there by you.
A persuasion-literacy curriculum: ads, apps, conversations, and the soft pressure of other people's wants.
- 14 Books
- 93 Insights
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Carl Sagan
Editor's note
Cialdini first. Once you see the six levers, you'll see them everywhere.
Open the first bookRead it like a sequence, not a shelf.
Each book earns its position by setting up the next question. Move through the stack in order, or jump to the pressure point you can name today.
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1
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the DarkOpen book
Carl Sagan · 1995
Cialdini names the six levers being pulled on you.
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2
BoundariesOpen book
Henry Cloud, John Townsend
Cialdini again — this time on the moment before the pitch.
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3
HookedOpen book
Nir Eyal
Lanier shows what those levers look like at platform scale.
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4
InfluenceOpen book
Robert B. Cialdini
Eyal explains how products are engineered to keep you.
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5
Pre-SuasionOpen book
Robert Cialdini
Cloud & Townsend builds the boundary muscle.
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6
Predictably IrrationalOpen book
Dan Ariely
Ariely closes with the irrationality you can't out-think alone.
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7
The Gift of FearOpen book
Gavin de Becker · 1997
The best defense is a simple, easily stated fact: violence is a process, not an event.
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8
Why Does He Do That?Open book
Lundy Bancroft · 2002
The pattern matters more than the apology. Safety begins when confusion stops protecting control.
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9
Your Wish Is Your CommandOpen book
Kevin Trudeau · 2009
Test the method on its own terms, and test the seller on his. A technique can be useful and the person selling it can still be taking you — those are two separate questions and you are allowed to ask both.
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10
No More Mr. Nice GuyOpen book
Robert A. Glover · 2003
Kindness becomes clean when it stops being a trade for approval.
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11
The Behavior Operations ManualOpen book
Chase Hughes · 2024
Whatever level of control you want over others, you need three times that level over yourself.
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12
10 Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right NowOpen book
Jaron Lanier
Delete the feed, and you start hearing your own mind again.
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13
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the MarketsOpen book
Nassim Nicholas Taleb · 2001
Be humble when the dice favour you and generous when they turn on someone else. They were never yours to command.
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14
The 33 Strategies of WarOpen book
Robert Greene · 2006
The best strategy often prevents the fight it understands.
Pair the shelf with a tool.
Reading changes thinking. Tools turn thinking into a Tuesday afternoon you actually run differently.
Keep exploring.
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Open Brené Brown8 books
Vulnerability, courage, and the profound power of showing up as yourself.
OpenKeep this going in the app.
HourLife turns these ideas into a daily system — goals, habits, focus, and reflection in one private place.
