Logic vs. Emotion and the art of Persuasion.

I recently attended a training class at my job about persuading customers. The class was very interesting, but one point it made that directly relates to the issue and debate of gun control is this:

When trying to persuade someone, Emotion is the overriding factor for the facts or logic.

What this means is that the facts are irrelevant if the EMOTION of the person you are working with isn't addressed. You can have a customer so completely pissed off about his initial experience with your company that even if you bend over completely backwards and deliver everything they're asking for, unless that emotion is addressed and turned around, they'll still keep a negative opinion of your company. The negative emotion overrides the fact that they've gotten everything they initially wanted and more.

Inversely, if your customer's emotions are addressed and they are kept happy and positive, you can just about give them a total shit sandwich of disappointment and they'll still have an upbeat opinion of you and your company.

This also correlates directly with the issue of Gun Control.

I've had many discussions with people supporting gun control, both public and private. The one common thread that almost everyone that supports gun control exhibits is that their emotion overrides their ability to logically analyze the facts.

Most of the "extreme" supporters of gun control have either been direct victims of firearm-related violent crime, or their immediate relatives have. I've discussed with gunshot victims, grieving parents and siblings, even a woman who rescued gunshot pets. These seem to be the most stalwart and determined (and occasionally personally insultive) supporters of gun control.

Because their emotions lead the charge, no matter what legitimate facts I have shared that shows the complete inability of gun control to do what they THINK it's going to do, (and the unintended consequences), they continue to cling to the EMOTIONAL belief that gun control is good, gun control is necessary, and gun control works.

I think that groups like the Brady Campaign and Violence Policy Center and anti-gun politicians KNOW that these people are leading with their emotion rather than their logic, and deliberately phrase their statements to play on an emotional response. The Brady Campaign site is filled with emotional phrases and imagery.

"Stop Mass Murders!"

"Thousands upon thousands of people will continue to die and be injured needlessly each year without stronger, sensible gun laws."

"Our weak gun laws make weapons too readily available to dangerous people."

Yet, any of their actual "facts" are almost always comprised of cherry picked information chosen specifically to back their pre-determined agenda of incremental, total citizen disarmament.

The truth is that stricter gun control doesn't "stop" anything, stronger gun laws haven't proven to reduce any violent crime rates anywhere they have been implemented.

I welcome any comments.