First I would like to introduce myself and say hello to everyone here as this is my first post. So... hello everyone!

As to me, I`m an insomniac who recently became interested in hypnosis, conversational hypnosis, memes etc... I also just got a decent paying job working with the public. (about 100 new people every 3 days) so this will work out perfectly for some lighthearted social experiments. I will start having extra cash about mid January for books and courses. Well enough about me and on to the topic.

After I learned about conversational hypnosis etc. (and got past my meglomaniacle ideas of global domination. j.k.) I had a sort of debate with myself about the ethics of influencing someone without their knowledge. So far this is what I have come up with as it fits my personal belief system.

As far as I can reason ethics can be restated as either win/win win/lose lose/win type terms or as morally positive/neutral/negative terms.

If your looking at it in win/lose type terms then it would be better if you shoot for making sure every time you used any form of influence it ends in a win/win scenario for every one. If you win and they lose, at least on a consistent basis, you run the risk of at best being exposed and at worst being chased with torches and pitchforks.

If you lose and they win, whether from some sort of religious ideology or cultural programming such as being a "nice guy" then its simply unsustainable for the long run. i.e. you're broke and heartbroken, etc...

If your looking at it from a morally positive/neutral/negative viewpoint then shoot for at least neutral. an example is someone is feeling bad and you make them feel better. or assisting someone in making a buying decision about your product.

This is all well and good, and fairly basic, but what about more serious problems. Some one has a drug or alcohol problem for example. Maybe you can help them but they don't want it. do you do it anyway? If yes, why? Or why not?


Edited because apparently I was seasoning ethics and not reasoning about them.