Chapter 1
This story will involve a lot of history, copious amounts of facts, and I probably will not skimp on statistics as well. In order to keep you engaged and reading further, I should reveal Richard and his son, Mark’s talent.
It’s straightforward really. They were the two most suasive men humankind has ever known. The word suasive may not be familiar to you. It certainly wasn’t for me. Yet once I discovered it, I feel it describes the two Kelly men perfectly.
If you wish, you can interchange the word persuasive if that makes it more accessible. But there is a subtle distinction.
Suasive is a stative verb and is one that describes a state of being, in contrast to a dynamic verb, which describes an action. The difference can be categorized by saying that stative verbs describe situations that are static or unchanging throughout their entire duration. In contrast, dynamic verbs describe processes that entail change over time.
Now, this extraordinary ability doesn’t sound very exciting on the surface. Our two heroes didn’t have bulging muscles, x-ray vision or could travel faster than the speed of light, etc. No, nothing as exciting as that. Neither was particularly handsome, tall, or remarkable in any other way. In fact, most people consider both father and son, very dull.
This is disappointing news for some of you, I’m sure. I can imagine you sitting in your chair reading this novel and at this juncture, thinking sarcastically to yourself… Their superpower is PERSUASION!?!?! You could even be about to put the book down in disgust and decide to a challenging game of Scrabble with your 12-year-old daughter. I would encourage you to take advantage of such an opportunity, but in the absence of such an excellent activity, please bear with me and continue reading.
I’ll try and set the scene that you might be imagining…
The tableau is a villa in southern Italy. The maiden of our dreams is sitting in front of a mirror, leisurely combing her long dark hair.
Suddenly a dastardly villain reveals his presence with an evil laugh coming from behind the curtains of her balcony.
The maiden screams in fright and dashes for the door. Dastardly Dan intercepts her and throws her on the bed. The bulge in his pants makes it evident that he is going to attempt to defile her.
Suddenly the door to the hallway swings open.
Enter stage right: our hero walks in and announces.
“STAND BACK, I AM PERSUASIVE MAN, and I have come to save the day.”
He then proceeds to explain to Dastardly Dan why he should not rape and pillage.
I know, I know, it is much more satisfying to have our hero smack around the villain and put him in jail, where he will spend a few years. Unfortunately, the reality is that while incarcerated, Dastardly will not receive any counseling. He will finish his sentence and once again roam the streets with a chip on his penis.
How much better would it be to have our hero arrive on the scene, use his powers of suasion to convince the rapists to desist in performing his heinous act ever again, and then take him to jail.
By using his powers of suasion, our hero would force the rapist to realize that rape is a terrible crime.
Persuasion is much more potent than violence in deterring recidivism. Consequently, even though Dastardly Dan would receive no counseling, he would reenter society (as they all do), knowing what he did was very wrong. If he were indeed persuaded, he would not repeat his disgusting acts of violence and seek counseling on his own.
Perhaps it would help if we took a look at the words persuasion and suasion. They are very powerful words.
Definition
To cause (someone) to do something through reasoning or argument.
Or
“To cause (someone) to believe something, especially after a sustained effort; convince.”
Now, after reading the definitions, I think you’ll agree with me that “persuasion” is a strong word. Imagine having the ability to alter someone’s very thoughts and beliefs based on facts and logic.
The strong can always issue orders and edicts to the weak. Sometimes they will use force for short term compliance, but very rarely does this bring long-term submission. When you genuinely persuade somebody to take action, they feel good about the choices they’ve made. Likely as not, they then feel good about themselves. They are rewarded doubly. Once for doing the right thing. And twice for knowing it’s the right thing to do.
I would argue that persuading someone to join you in an endeavor is much more powerful than ordering them to comply with your wishes. With both, you’ll usually achieve your goal.
However, with even the threat of coercion, you add a layer of negativity. With persuasion, you get a sense of “doing what is right.
And as any kindergartner knows, “doing what is right” is what it’s all about