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"Connections and Why They Matter"
Most of what happens in our life will spark a connection. Life connects with what has been found in books. Books connect with what happens in life. Use the connections to help you see more clearly. A love of reading and writing is what motivated the creation of this blog. Thank you for coming to the blog.
Manipulation is the act of influencing or controlling someone else unfairly or underhandedly to achieve personal goals. Feigning ignorance is a manipulation tactic that can be used to avoid accountability, confuse the other party, or gain the upper hand in a negotiation.
Narcissistic individuals feign ignorance so they don’t have to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. Playing dumb is a way of avoiding responsibility. Pretending not to know or understand something to evade responsibility or gain an advantage is disingenuous, which is a pretty exact fit for "feigning ignorance."
Self-help authors sometimes "feign ignorance" to create a sense of relatability with their readers, making them feel like the author understands their struggles and is on a similar level, which can foster trust and encourage engagement with the presented solutions, even if the author is quite knowledgeable on the subject matter; this tactic can also be used to present complex ideas in a more accessible way by breaking them down into simpler terms. This approach will backfire if the author is not actually qualified to provide advice on the topic.
It seems ironic that even ancient philosophers feigned ignorance to stimulate others to articulate and defend their ideas.
