TITLE: STOP Arguing! The Dave Chappelle Secret to Changing Anyone’s Mind
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToiLkrUynrI

Dave Chappelle should have been cancelled by now. This is the first of five breakdowns of Dave Chappelle's real superpowers. At the end of this series, you'll know exactly why he gets into our heads. Dave doesn't argue with his audience. He agrees with them. The logic trap. This is the structure. Dave says, "I believe women have the right to choose." He gets a big applause. Everyone agrees. >> We agree. >> Then he adds, "If you can choose to kill him, I can choose to abandon him." >> Now, now you see how that turned. It's the same logic. It's just new territory. >> It was a trap. >> The discomfort you feel, that's the trap. Now you're stuck. Get them to agree first, then you pivot. It's exciting because it is so dangerous to say anything and everyone gets upset about everything. Like we used to we used to watch TV growing up. We had no venue to talk back to television. >> Right. Right. Right. >> A lot of times we think influence is persuasion. It's not really persuasion. What it is is alignment. Even in the 48 laws of power they tell you minds cannot be changed through arguments. Minds change when logic turns against itself. Game of Thrones, they had one of the longest logic traps you ever seen on TV. You remember Days, right? >> Breaker of chains [music] and mother of dragons, the unburnt, the breaker [music] of chains. >> For seven seasons, you agreed with her. She was righteous. She freed slaves. >> We agreed. >> She killed bad people. >> Logical. >> Then she burned King's Landing. >> It was a trap. [music] It was the same logic, but it was new victims. The audience, they weren't shocked. They were just exposed because it's been this same Daenerys the whole time. It was just applied to a group of people that you learn to like over time. Historically, one of the greatest masters at it was Malcolm X. The agreement, >> it's by mutual agreement on both sides. >> The whites were colonized. They were fed up with this taxation without representation. So some of them stood up and said liberty or death. They didn't care about the odds. Why? They faced the wrath of the entire British Empire. >> And the logic is there. >> Logical. >> This is how big it was. Yet these 13 little scrawny states tired of taxation without representation. Tired of being exploited and oppressed and degraded. told that big British empire, liberty or death. >> It was a trap. >> And here you have 22 million afroamericans, black people today, catching more hell than Patrick Henry ever saw. They're going to draft these young black men and send them over to Korea or South Vietnam to face 800 million Chinese. >> That's the trap. And if you disagreed with his conclusions, you would have to admit that you don't even believe in your own values. >> That's a tricky one. >> I don't know if you ever seen Long Beach Griffy. He's a person who does skits on YouTube. He never gets cancelled. >> Never ever get away with Okay. Um, let's wrap this up. Uh, I made reservations at Applebee's. >> He uses the same trick. Not much different than Dave Chappelle. He'll start with a moral issue like support your friends. >> Of course I would. >> Everyone agrees with supporting your friends, right? Then he'll have a friend that robs gas stations and needs money for guns. And that's the logic trap. And it'll make you think about should you really support your friends. >> Dave Chappelle. >> Dave says drug addiction is a health issue. Everyone agrees. >> Agreed. Of course. It makes them think twice when they hear about the crack epidemic. >> Crack cocaine and I disagree you >> and how it attacked black communities because you agreed with the logic. Now you have no choice but to see it as a double standard. People's identity usually goes on the defense when they argue with you. See what the logic trap does. It disarms you. He just used the audience's own values against them. Ryan Cougler did a similar thing in sinners. The film establishes that the home or community is a sacred space. >> You keep dancing with the devil. One day he's going to follow you home. Follow you home. Follow you home. >> Outsiders need permission to [music] enter. >> Carolina, >> y'all playing? >> Sorry. Well, we we believe in equality and music. We just came here to play. >> Then the vampires are invited in. Then the realization hits. This is not about vampires at all. The story is about how communities logically invite what later on ends up consuming them. This is not a comedian technique at all. It's a universal technique that you can use to change people's minds or make them look at something more critically. A powerful technique if you learn how to use it. Elon Musk, >> what what are the other ideas that you have that you would love to see another entrepreneur just take on and go? >> Well, I think there's a lot of opportunity in in in general in electrification of transport. So, um, electric aircraft, >> everyone agrees >> in genetics, although it's that's sort of a thorny area, but I think that's in terms of solving some of the more um intrangent intrangent diseases, genetics are really key. Everyone agrees. And the trap >> some kind of brain computer interface. >> A brain computer interface. >> No. No. >> That's the pivot. Apple as a company, they can be really slick. Apple starts with the environment. Climate change is real. E-waste is bad. Everyone nods in agreement. >> Usual agreement. >> Then Apple removes the charger from the package. logical, >> but they don't change the price point. >> How dare you? >> Now you're accepting less for the same amount of money you just agreed to a cost cutting mechanism, but it was framed around morality. >> It was a trap. >> That's right. >> Quinn Tarantino uses it in Pulp Fiction. He'll usually open a scene with something real mundane like tipping or a conversation about fast food. >> You're bread, right? >> Yeah, I thought so. Hamburgers. The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast. >> We agreed. >> What kind of hamburgers? >> Cheeseburgers. >> No, no, no, no, no. Where'd you get them? McDonald's, Wendy's, Jack in the Box. Where? >> Um, Big Kahuna Burger. >> Big Kahuna Burger. That's that Hawaiian burger joint. I hear they got some tasty burgers. I ain't never had one myself. How are they? >> Good. You mind if I try one of yours? >> Logical. You already see the character's human qualities. So when things turn, you're already invested in the character. It almost makes you feel complicit when something happens to them. >> It was a trap. >> And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee. >> New York State of Mind from Nas. He starts with survival, hunger, poverty, pressure. He gets everyone to agree that survival is human. >> Agree. Of course, >> it's a basic human right. >> Logical. >> Then Nas uses crime as a logical response to survival. That's the trap. Life is parallel to hell, but I must maintain. You already agreed that survival is a basic human right. >> It was a trap. >> What do you expect them to do in the hood? Not survive. >> That's tricky. >> H tricky. >> Think about the clothing brand Supreme. They'll take something that's useful in everyday life like a brick. Once they put their name on it and you bought in to the brick being having a practical usage, that's where the trap is. But psychologically, we fall for that without looking at it as unreasonable. They're basically selling dirt back to you because it has a name on it. This [music] is one of Dave Chappelle's superpowers, and there's four more. Once you see the logic trap, you'll never unsee it. If you want the next breakdown, please subscribe and comment who you want analyzed next. >> Be appointed hand of the king. >> [music] [music]