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Autonemesis · 05-06-2006, 08:59 AM

Are you thinking of P.T Barnum's Theory of Behavior?

Diogenes the Cynic · 05-06-2006, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deacon Doubtmonger

Any psychologists here? I always thought there was some psych maxim to the effect that if you're going to push a load of bullshit, it's easier to get people to bite on a large amount of outlandishness than a small amount of mere puffery. Is there a formal name for this, and could that have been the principle at work when the joody-xian creation myth was written?

Maybe you're thinking of the Big Lie?

Quote:

The phrase Big Lie refers to a propaganda technique which entered mass consciousness with Adolf Hitler's 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf. In that book Hitler wrote that people came to believe that Germany lost World War I in the field due to a propaganda technique used by Jews who were influential in the German press. This technique, he believed, consisted of telling a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe anyone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". The first documented use of the phrase "big lie" is in the corresponding passage: "in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility".

Deacon Doubtmonger · 05-06-2006, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diogenes the Cynic

Maybe you're thinking of the Big Lie?

That's definitely one form of it. The one I remember was Anthony Robbins saying something to the effect that people would have a greater incentive to apply his techniques if they had to shell out a ton of money for his seminars instead of a small amount.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Autonemesis

Are you thinking of P.T Barnum's Theory of Behavior?

Do you mean, "There's a sucker born every minute"? Or did he express it in greater detail?

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05-06-2006, 08:59 AM	#11
Autonemesis Contributor Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: I've left FRDB for good, due to new WI&P policy Posts: 12,048	Are you thinking of P.T Barnum's Theory of Behavior?

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