by William Ammerman
McGraw-Hill Education
ASIN B07K3YH6YG
ISBN-13: 978-126044125
Available on Amazon
Reviewed by Dr. Bob Rich originally in his Bobbin’ Around newsletter.
This book was offered to me for review by the Nonfiction Authors’ Association. I was tempted to turn it down, because marketing is not a particular interest of mine, but read the first few pages, and realized that yes, it is highly relevant to me, because it is highly relevant to everyone. I started reading the book to review it. I kept reading with interest and even fascination because I needed to know what it taught me.
I am an immensely non-consuming person. Marketers have no influence on me -- or so I thought. All the same, Mr. Ammerman has shown me that I am as vulnerable as anyone to covert, invisible manipulation. And if I am, you are, too, only probably more so.
This book is a map to a new, foreign land where monsters lurk. You need the book to avoid being eaten. Here is just one quote: “The science of persuasion is uncovering these unconscious reflexes that trigger specific behaviors. In fact, these reflexes can be so powerful that, even when we become aware of them, we find them hard to overcome.” (p 50)
Computers can now beat world champions in the real thinking games: chess and Go. They can get you to love them. The same tools, applied to making us into puppets is a marketer’s dream, but more like a nightmare to me. I think my Luddite intuition is correct: I am not welded to a phone, and apart from banking, only use the internet for purposes I don’t mind being known to the shadowy puppet-masters.
It is a difficult task to write engagingly, even amusingly about a highly technical subject, but Mr. Ammerman manages to do so. For me, it is a good day when I learn something new. This book taught me lots, much of it very useful to protect myself in a Brave New World.
About the Reviewer
Dr. Bob Rich is a Professional Grandfather with many hundreds of grandkids all over the planet. His 18 books, 5 of them award-winners, are part of his work to create a survivable world for them, and a world worth surviving in. A strange thing about Bob is that he has no sense of humor whatever. However, he proves that most other people do: they keep laughing at his writing. You can be informed, inspired and entertained — but never bored — at his blog, Bobbing Around https://bobrich18.wordpress.com
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