Aristotle wrote one of the earliest books on "persuasion techniques"

[BaalChatzaf]

Once of the earliest books on persuasion techniques  was written by Aristotle.  He called it rhetoric.  The earliest practitioners of persuasion techniques  were the Greek Sophists.  The  made a living teaching  young men of means   the art of swaying  public opinion in places where democracy existed.   The Sophists flourished in Athens  and were not welcomed in Sparta. 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

3 hours ago, BaalChatzaf said:

Once of the earliest books on persuasion techniques  was written by Aristotle.  He called it rhetoric.

Bob,

This is probably an interesting factoid for those who don't study persuasion.

For for those who do, everybody knows this. It's part of the basic curriculum.

Saying this as something new to them is sort of like saying (as if uncovering a secret) there's a book called the Holy Scriptures about being a Jew and it was written long ago.

Michael

[Marcus]

Notice rhetoric isn't accepted (except that approved and dispensed by the authorities) in closed societies and dictatorships. They understand it's power.

The pen is mightier than the sword.