Spotting Chicanery - Deconstruction

The first section is the original marketing piece. The second section is the same marketing piece with the deconstruction points.


Original Full E-mail:

My good friend Ray Kurzweil is one of the most brilliant people I know. Bill Gates called him "the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence." The Wall Street Journal called him the "Relentless Genius," and Forbes Magazine dubbed him "the ultimate thinking machine." He's been honored by three American presidents (including the National Medal of Technology) and received 19 honorary doctorates.

So it's no wonder that many people, including me, are absolutely thrilled about his latest masterpiece, a book called How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed.
This amazing book (I've read the pre-release version) is now available for preorder and I want to urge you to purchase a copy and to tell your friends. The book shows how we can apply our knowledge of the brain's structure to take artificial intelligence to unprecedented heights.

To encourage you to click on this link and pre-order How to Create a Mind, Ray has put together a stellar pre-release offer (with a retail value of over $1,200) for those who take action today.
Here's what you get:

•	Individually signed copy of the Book by Ray Kurzweil
•	How to Create a Mind T-shirt
•	Free streaming film: Transcendent Man, The Life and Ideas of Ray Kurzweil
•	$1200 gift certificate toward attendance at Singularity University's 7-day Executive Program at the NASA Ames campus
•	Automatic entry to win a seat at a 7-day SU Executive Program (www.SingularityU.org)
•	34 percent off retail price
Head here to preorder.

If you are at all interested in the greatest breakthrough of this century, I urge you to order this book. Ray's last book absolutely changed my life, and I expect this one to have no less of an impact.

Sincerely,

Peter

Abundance / Dr. Peter H. Diamandis

END


Now the deconstruction points:
Points are made with "**"


My good friend Ray Kurzweil
** Wants to make sure you know he has friends. Narcissistic.

is one of the most brilliant people I know.
** Wants to make sure you know he has brilliant friends. Narcissistic.
** We "build up" people now so we can easily cut them down later.

Bill Gates called him "the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence."
** Celebrity name dropping.

The Wall Street Journal called him the "Relentless Genius,"
** Mainstream media name-dropping

and Forbes Magazine dubbed him "the ultimate thinking machine."
** Mainstream media name-dropping

He's been honored by three American presidents
** Heightening importance of something that requires importance heightening. (Hint: Things that do not require heightening do not need to be heightened. They stand on their own.)
** Assumes "Presidential Honor" has value. You can probably purchase that. :)

(including the National Medal of Technology)
** Assumes medals/ribbons have value. Zero value in reality. Hint: Military. Napoleon once bragged he could train men to fight and die for scrap of ribbon, too.

and received 19 honorary doctorates.
** Honorary doctorates merely require graft and pull. The fact that honorary doctorates can be purchased through bribery renders them zero value. Useless, even to a "genius".
** Real genius needs no "doctorate" at all. He is genius with or without "doctorate".
** Seeking doctorates is scrapbook mentality.

So it's no wonder that many people,
** Makes assumption that "many people" are interested. Probably very limited, in reality. IE, less than 1% of population.

including me,
** Egocentricity

are absolutely thrilled about his latest masterpiece, a book called How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed.
** "Absolutely" commonly used to heighten something that requires heightening. Emotional word.
** "thrilled" common exaggeration. What was the physical reaction? Was there a jumping up and down or is this just chicanery? Personally I do a little dance when I get thrilled. :)

This amazing book
** If it is so amazing, why is it not free globally to the human population?
** If it is so amazing, why does it need to be promoted? Amazing things are self-promoting. Require no advertising. IE, no one advertises Bibles or clean drinking water for sale. Only things that are not amazing need promotion.

(I've read the pre-release version)
** Pre-release is movie release marketing tactic. Manifests anticipation for something that usually requires it.

is now available for preorder and
** Pre-order another marketing technique. Anticipation for something that requires it.

I want to urge you to purchase a copy and to tell your friends.
** Call to action

The book shows how we can apply our knowledge of the brain's structure to take artificial intelligence to unprecedented heights.
** And then what? What will this actually accomplish? Which major social problem the world faces will this accomplish?
** Plays to fantasies, not realities.
** Define "unprecendented heights" and how it actually benefits humanity.
** Artificial Intelligence a "fantasy", potentially sought by those who compensate for their lack of it.
** Assumes human beings not intelligent. IE, why do we need artificial intelligence if we are an intelligent species? Speaking of, who named us an intelligent species again? :)

To encourage you to click on this link and pre-order How to Create a Mind, Ray has put together a stellar pre-release offer
** "To encourage" means "To manipulate and persuade your behavior"
** Call to action (advertising technique)
** "Stellar" a heightening word.
** Pre-release is a movie industry technique. Builds anticipation. Manipulative technique.
** The only "offer" that is real is something free. Especially when information free.

(with a retail value of over $1,200) for those who take action today.
** Retail value of $1,200 has no basis. How is value of information determined? Information free.
** "Retail Value" arbitrary, trivial.
** Extremely high price used as a technique to create illusion of high value. Usually untrue.
** More call to action.

Here's what you get:

•	Individually signed copy of the Book by Ray Kurzweil
** Signed copies of books trivial. Usually used as distraction from the lack of content.

•	How to Create a Mind T-shirt
** What sweat shop was it made in? Otherwise promoting slave labor. 200 million children work in child labor. Concerned that purchase actually promotes this. Promoting it drives it.

•	Free streaming film: Transcendent Man, The Life and Ideas of Ray Kurzweil
** Again, film has no value. Information free.

•	$1200 gift certificate toward attendance at Singularity University's 7-day Executive Program at the NASA Ames campus
** Value arbitrary. Value is set. What determined value of certificate. All human knowledge is free.

•	Automatic entry to win a seat at a 7-day SU Executive Program (www.SingularityU.org)
** Lottery/raffle. Inspires gambling/competition emotion.
** Lottery a trick on psyche that failed 2nd grade math.

•	34 percent off retail price
** Advertising trick. Used commonly in retail stores.
** Original price arbitrary. Discount arbitrary.
** Was careful not to use a round number. Uses "wal-mart" strategy: Use bizarre, random numbers. Never use 99% or 50% because they are over-used. Psyche aware of them. Use random numbers like 34%.

Head here to preorder.
** Call to action (advertising)

If you are at all interested in the
** Call to be interested in something that is probably uninteresting.

greatest breakthrough of this century,
** Extreme, malignant exaggeration.

I urge you to order this book.
** Call to action. (advertising)

Ray's last book absolutely changed my life,
** In what way? What changed? Why did it change? Empty statement, usually untrue.

and I expect this one to have no less of an impact.
** The word "impact" usually used when the content itself will make no impact.

Sincerely,

Peter

Abundance / Dr. Peter H. Diamandis
** Careful to use "Dr." and his middle initial for importance.
** You should get Knighted too, Peter. "Sir" is another gem for egocentrics. :)

PS: This is not to pick on Peter personally. This is an exercise in both self-awareness and training for how to spot common techniques used. Peter probably does not write these e-mails anyway, he probably has a skilled propagandist.

Diagnosis: Chicanery. Capitalist mindset apparent. More interested in selling exceptionally expensive, over-valued information kit to already-wealthy, egocentric males.

Diagnosis of any corporation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui9C6xVpVf0&feature=autoplay&list=PL24FFB42A58FA93AE&playnext=1

All Life Is One
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Queen's Hand, Aaron Socio
Anonymous
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