If I were to try and manipulate people, what would be the most efficient way to do it?
Tell them that there is an all-powerful being that will reward them for worshipping him and doing as he states. Tell them that if they didn’t believe and do as he states, they will be forever punished. And tell them there is no way to prove the existence of the all-powerful being until after they die, a time when they obviously can’t report back to the living.
That’s the ticket. The perfect manipulation machine.
Now all I have to do is have them interpret the all-powerful being’s “words” to fit my view of the world and I’m all set.
