Andrew, thanks for sharing more of your background; I can see that there's
much more than first meets the eye. My comments were confrontational
because I wanted you to see how it looked from another perspective.
You've handled this in the spirit of learning, and I applaud the courage
and openness of your response.
There was a discussion of manipulation on this list a while back, and most
of it involved the connotation of making people do things against their
will. I interpreted your comments about content-free manipulation in
another sense, that of directing or guiding the actions of others in order
to help them accomplish their own goals. If this is what you mean, then
we are not so far apart after all. Perhaps the argument reduces to the
words we use and how they interact with each others' buttons when we speak
clearly. (I'll admit a couple of mine got pushed by your earlier
message.)
Settling back into listening mode...
Dave
-- David E. Birren Phone: (608)267-2442 Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources Fax: (608)267-3579 Bureau of Management & Budget E-mail: birred@dnr.state.wi.us"Our future is to be food - Wisdom's gift - for what comes after us." -- Saadi (Neil Douglas-Klotz)