Emotional manipulation

"In our current cultural obsession with emotional manipulation I intentionally do not call them tactics. The language around this subject quite glaringly assumes a maliciousness and intent that I just don't believe is present in most cases. Quite often it's like what A&D have said a defense mechanism"

"Really I think the whole notion of 'emotional manipulation' has been made so fraught that it's hard to parse anymore. We all use strategies that we have learned to try and have our needs met. It's intrinsic to human nature and pretty value neutral. It's about how they are dealt with and if we can co"