88 Uncanny Mind Tricks People Share That Secretly Give You The Upper Hand

I worked with a friend who kept a twelve pack of Mountain Dew under his desk. For a while I’d sneak extra cans back into the box, not a lot and just enough that he was sure he drank more than the box would hold.

I bike commute to and from work. I’ve found that when drivers road rage towards me, nothing gets under people’s skin more than NOT being mad as well. When they yell, swear, honk, etc, all I do it laugh or do the crying pantomime and it usually sends people through the roof. They hate that I’m having a good time when they are raging.

If you want something from someone, like a favor, but you don’t think they’ll help, ask for more than what you want, knowing they’ll say no, then ask for what you really want. They will be more inclined to help with the lesser favor.

When you are talking to someone, if you interrupt them and say walk with me in a busy tone and start walking away, they will walk with you and continue the conversation without hesitation. You can lead them wherever you want really.

Look distractedly at their nose or some part of their face, then scratch or rub the corresponding part on your own face. They'll supposedly get confused and think they have something on them.

This was from the book "Mind Control: The Ancient Art of Psychological Warfare" by the dubiously named Haha Lung. My emotionally unstable brother bought this book and I had to see what the hell he was actually reading. The author sounds like a nutcase through his writing.

The silent treatment. The grey rock treatment. People become truly
unnerved when you don’t respond to them. It fun and easy even a child can learn to do it!

I saw on one of these before that if the interlocutor you're talking with is engaged in what you're saying they'll accept whatever you physically offer them, like, hand them a eraser or maybe a pen.

If they don't notice and just hold it or put it away somewhere near but don't specifically ask about why you can just keep giving them bigger and bigger stuff, once they realize you're probably handing them a office chair or a computer screen.

One of my bosses feels the need to contradict anything I say, no matter how benign. She gets in "moods", should probably see a therapist.
When she does this I just start agreeing with whatever she says but I phrase it a little differently, and make my tone slightly argumentative, but I'm basically a parrot. Sure enough she'll contradict what I say. So I do it again, agreeing with her new statement. We can go on like this for a long time. She argues with herself. It doesnt help anything but I find it amusing. Its the conversational equivalent of my brother grabbing my hand and smacking me in the face with it whilst saying "why are you hitting yourself ? Stop hitting yourself.".

When meeting someone for the first time say oh hello again and shake their hand even if they go for like a high five transfer it into a handshake. They will not ask for your name or any information they will just think that you definitely know them from somewhere and they just forgot.

YAWN

YAWN

YAWN

Say "have a good day" and then follow it with something applicable only to them. Then watch them say "thanks you too" only to realize what they said doesn't make sense.

I do this with Uber Eats drivers all the time, "have a great day, drive safe!" "Thanks, you too! Wait..."

If somebody is talking and talking giving you no chance to say what you want to say drop something very loud on the floor then begin to talk.

Be grateful for everything. That mental shift will leave you happy and that really confuses people.

If you’ve been in a space in close proximity to a stranger (elevator, library, etc.) and neither of you have acknowledged each other or spoken, when you go to leave say “It was nice to meet you.” Then walk away.

You can classically condition someone to associate two things pretty easily. Say a particular phrase whenever a certain song comes on and eventually they'll associate the two, and always remember that phrase whenever they hear the song.

Offer somebody gum but don't take a piece for yourself.

Say shop, say shop again, say shop 5 more times. What do you do at a green light?

Have them try to define the things they hate.

Ask someone if they know ALL the words to “I’m a little teapot” (emphasis on the word ALL). Vast majority of the time, grown a*s adults will start singing “I’m a little teapot.”.

Telling people "nice socks" even when they're not visible.