ABSTRACT
After putting in much effort and failing to understand intellectual blasphemies, I realised that influencing mass opinion did not really require arcane numbers and history lessons. For once, the world really does not need personal opinions to become civilised overnight. Looking at things around us, it does not take much time in figuring out the fact that an opinion’s success rate depends on its ability to percolate and seep into the social hierarchies. If an opinion is founded on facts and data that appeal to the target audience’s academic allegiances, it is certain to remain specialised and unproven. If you examine any ‘significant’ revolution around the world, you will notice that the basic notion is usually always quite simple and just does its job well (that is hitting the nail on the head). As an example, there was nothing profoundly intellectual about the Arab Spring, which transformed much of North Africa. It started with a simple idea in Tunisia that an oppressive government must go. What started was a mass movement against oppressive governments in the entire region, which spread even beyond North Africa into Syria. Therefore, in essence the idea was really very simple as it took into account a very popular mass opinion. In India, Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India Movement was so successful because during that epoch it called upon a very common ambition of Indians at large—independence from British Rule. The recent Anna Hazareled Anti-Corruption Movement is another case in point here. The rise of ‘India against Corruption’ simply rides on a brand of morality that people are willing to accept today for a better India. There was really nothing particularly intellectual about the idea of Anti-Corruption, as it is a menace everybody is aware of and detests. The only reason why this opinion took engulfing proportions was due to the fact that everybody could relate to it from day one: simple. Even though a lot of agitators from the general public had no idea (and they still don’t) as to what actually Anti-Corruption Bill was really all about and what merits it would bring, the best part was that everybody could convincingly buy the argument. While it may be the worst thing that can happen to a stock market, but the concept of Herd Mentality as it is called, is not always a bad thing. You see the idea is to amplify the ripple effect of an opinion that has the power to make life significantly better, for all (and as mentioned earlier, our chai stalls are called for active duty!). The amplifier that I am talking about is simplicity, and that is what this book is all about (you may disagree!).
