Influencers

[Sal]

Insofar that people lack critical thinking skills, then yes, people are influenced then.

I'm not saying that the people who think for themselves can't be swayed either way by someone or something, just that it everything goes through a giant filter we call 'thinking about it'.

But in general - and specifically in the video - critical thinking is not an issue when it comes to being influenced.  It's a demonstration of how we can't help being influenced. No one sees an ice cube tray and employs critical thinking to avoid taking a selfie with an ice cube tray. It's not really a higher brain function.

Boru

I'd call that manipulation. Given how we can be affected by environment via osmosis, then yes, you can manipulate people by induction (indirectly), which is what he does in the vid. Is that really thinking about it though?