Pinocchio's Free Will

Personal well-being can be pursued differently when one is faced with different conflicts. If you are being manipulated and are under the control of someone else without knowing it, you are faced with a unique type of conflict. This type of situation can be looked at and compared to Keith Carter’s image titled Pinocchio as well as personal knowledge of certain circumstances.

Manipulation can come in many different forms. One example of someone taking advantage of someone else who does not realize it is a sales-person trying to sell a particular product to a customer. Sales-people generally make an effort to sell the product that will produce the highest profit for themselves, and do this in any way that they can. Sales-people will sometimes only give you parts of the information to help them sell the particular product. For instance, a television salesman will tell you all the amazing features of one model, leaving out the potential cons of the choice, while only giving the possible downfalls of another model and leaving out the good features. By using this method, the customer only has biased information about the products, leading them to make the decision that the sales-person led them to. Despite the fact that the sales-person tells you to make the decision on your own, he has already practically made the decision for you. You think that you are making the choice between the two products, but actually the sales-person has manipulated your thoughts into leaning towards the product that they will make the most money off of. This is only one of many examples of manipulation which can be used to benefit, or more often, harm the receiver.

In Keith Carter’s image titled Pinocchio, a certain type of manipulation is demonstrated. The puppet has the illusion that he can move however he wants, while actually the puppeteer has complete control of his every move. In the image, the puppeteer, or manipulator, is blurred to give the impression that the puppet is not aware of his presence or dominant control over him. Pinocchio is not conscious of the fact that there is a presence standing above him, pulling strings to control his decisions. Despite what he may think, Pinocchio does not have free-will. This image demonstrates the same concept discussed above; a manipulative presence has control over the receiver without the receiver being aware of it. The puppeteer pulls the stings to force decisions to be made which produce predetermined outcomes; the sales-person pulls strings to lift the customers’ hand to the television that will produce the highest profit. Although these examples have focused mainly on the negative aspects of manipulation, it is also possible for the overseeing blurred presence to force good decisions from the puppets as well.

Both of these examples relate to concepts of human nature in more general terms. Humans are commonly faced with situations of competing internal and external demands. We are often forced to respond to these conflicts in the best interest of our own personal well-being. Humans generally want to make their own decisions without someone or something dictating what they can and cannot do. The examples above make certain suggestions about personal well-being when responding to conflict. In these types of situations the puppet is not aware that he is being manipulated, which means that he is not conscious of any type of conflict. Although the person who is being manipulated is not aware of the manipulation, there is still a man versus man conflict taking place. Despite the potential for positive manipulation, there is a far greater likelihood that the manipulation will be destructive. This negative influence may cause the reduction of personal well-being such as fulfillment, self-satisfaction, or even survival. Making a major decision may give the illusion of fulfillment and self-satisfaction, but like the example above, a conscious decision was not actually made by the puppet. An extreme situation involving a similar type of manipulation could even put a life in danger, threatening the vital survival of the pawn. There can be numerous effects caused by the blurred presence of a manipulator which, to a certain extent, may ruin the puppet’s ability to pursue personal well-being.

The examples above suggest that human nature causes individuals to respond to the conflicts presented by manipulation in a certain way. We are under the impression that we can do and think anything we want, when we are actually unknowingly under the complete control of the manipulator. The understanding of certain situations as well as Keith Carter’s image titled Pinocchio has provided some insight into individuals’ natural response to these types of manipulative situations.