I think “persuading” is “maniplulating” in some extent. As Dr. Simon mentioned in one of the lecture about the fact that when you try to sell something, you try to change the person’s mind about it. However, it doesn’t mean that manipulation is good or bad in nature. This is one of the topics that I really like (thank you for bringing it up). One of the book that I really like written by Dan Ariely: “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” talks a lot about how you can easily “manipulate” the outcome of your target’s decision and the irrational behaviors/decisions we make such as “why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup” or “why do our headaches persist after we take a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a fifty-cent aspirin”. I think that we, maybe subconsciously, also use “manipluations” in everyday life to get what we want but some people are better than others or some people are more well-trained than others. And overall, I believe it comes down to the battle bettwen profits vs ethics ie. “Would you really want a lot of people buying this bad product for a certain amount of money?”, “Is it worth it/justified?” and it’s very relative.