Lisa Hart “Move one step to your left,” she said.
The fly buzzing toward the living room went out the open sliding glass door. “How did you do that?” her nephew asked, exasperated awe in his tween face and voice.
“Promise me you won’t use the information to manipulate or coerce others ever in your life and I’ll tell you.” She required of him.
It seemed like a ridiculous and tall order, but he knew from past experience that his Aunt Lucia meant it. She was all kinds of weird and full of humor but she was also sincere and never more so than when on the subject of animals, no matter how small or historically unappealing.
“I promise,” he said dutifully but with dubiousness and a bit of humoring someone.
“Well, its not fair to ask for a promise unless someone knows fully what they are promising. I only wish the Aboves knew that,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“What is the difference between manipulating someone and
persuading them? What is the difference between propaganda and information? The only difference?”
He looked at her dumbly and with an expression that amounted to a mixture of respect and ‘here we go again’.
“Manipulation is about control and power over. So is propaganda. Information and persuasion are about creating harmony and empowerment. If I tell you how to herd flies you will know how to influence any animal, even human. Your a bright, handsome, white (oh, here it is again, rolling eyes) young man. You have charisma. Your powers of leadership are strong and natural. You can use them for good or ill. I won’t have my nephew (heard that one before, too) using anything I teach him for ill. Got it?”
“I got it. Is it like with horses?”
“Somewhat. The thing about flies is they work a pattern, a lot like bats. Its a very efficient figure 8 pattern. Left on their own, they will work that pattern in a consecutive movement in any direction. Not all flies, but most will. They search for food and for a way out that way. So the best thing is to wait until they are at one end of their pattern and then pressure them in the direction you want them to go. If you interrupt the pattern you have to wait for them to pick it up again somewhere else.”
“I see.”
“Very good, Little Skywalker”
“Am I a Jedi now?”
“Heavens, no. You got a LONG way to go…but you got closer instead of farther away, and that’s something.
“Have a cookie”.
Sam bit down on the still warm chocolate chip cookie with relish. His Aunt Lucia was weird, but no one knew the things she did and her cookies were the best in the world.
Image Credit: Wookieepedia
