Most of us use the art of persuasive thinking every day in one way or another. However, most of the time we don't even realize that we are using persuasion to influence that person. Unless we use the power of persuasion intended for any purpose, such as selling something or influencing the intended goal of something. There are many ways to be persuasive, but first we need to understand some things like human nature, think carefully and learn to control our emotions. When we try to convince someone to accept our message, we use the art of persuasion. One way to persuade someone to your way of thinking is to appeal to their pride: this is deceptive persuasion. Appealing to pride is a logical fallacy and allows one to reason incorrectly. When we appeal to someone's pride, we appeal to their emotions rather than facts or logic. By appealing to a person's pride, the intended person is persuaded to accept through pride. If someone has little self-pride, you can still appeal to their pride just as if you were trying to appeal to someone who has a lot of it. Pride is pride, whether there is a little or a lot of it. Appealing to someone's pride is easily accomplished with flattery directed at the target. Comments directed at one's appearance or assets are usually a good place to start. Flattery always has a great effect on most people. Viewing flattery as a positive way to get someone on your side can help progression. Even someone with little pride likes to be flattered sometimes and appealing to their little pride can have the results of this with someone who has a lot of pride. We all have some sort of pride in something, it's just a matter of understanding what that pride might be....... middle of paper...... 8) Deceptive persuasion like appealing to pride is just one of many ways of persuasive thinking. Learning to defend yourself from deceptive persuasions can be a useful tool, especially the next time we go to make a large purchase and ask a salesman to assist us. Kirby describes how we are influenced by a salesman and the technique of appealing to our pride by writing: “Feeling flattered, we may be more willing to purchase his items. When we point out that other retailers in the area have advised us not to invest in the "best" product line, he asks us why we should even consider their point of view on the matter. Of course, he tells us, we are not the kind of people who are told what to do." (Kirby 278)Works CitedKirby "Feeling" Kirby, Gary R., Goodpaster Jeffery R., Scientific Thinking. Pearson Education, Inc: Upper Saddle, New Jersey, 2007. 259-286.