I come from a family of avid strategy game players. Growing up, my
brothers and I were always playing some sort of board game or card game. Coming
from a family of all boys often time came with the price of competitiveness.
We've spent many a long night playing a game because no one wanted to quit
until they had won.
One of family favorites was the game
of RISK, a game that consisted of a map of the world broken down into
continents, which are in turn broken down into individual territories. Each
player is given a small army, which grows larger and larger the more territories
or continents you control. Many of my
experiences that have to do with persuading or being persuaded have happened
around the game table while playing RISK.
In Gorgias’ speech, the Encomium of Helen, Gorgias seeks to take
away blame from Helen for the Trojan War. As legend has it, Helen was either
abducted or ran away with Paris, the son of the Trojan king. Gorgias points out
that there ways other than words that persuade us to do something.
I remember many a RISK game when I was compelled attack or not
attack into a territory based on a fear of some sort. Fear of being attacked,
fear of spreading myself too thin, that if I took one of their territories they
might take a territory that I valued. Fear was a powerful persuader because it motivates us to make an action in hopes of avoiding something much more unpleasant
Another form of persuasion is love. RISK battles consist of rolling
dice, which means the outcomes are random. In theory the largest army has the
advantage, but that is not always the case. Once my younger brother attacked me
with an army double or triple my own. As luck would have it my army won,
leaving his forces decimated. It would have been really easy to counter attack
and take all of his land, but the way he looked at me with those eyes that
said, “If you love me please don’t destroy me” touched my heart and I didn’t
attack. I think love and emotions are the most powerful of motivaters. Often how we feel influences what we do. How often have we done something completley irrational because we felt that it was right? Even though the example is a silly one it is a reminder to me of the persuading power of love.
