I recently listened to a discussion about genetic foods on the radio - and I was absolutely mesmerized by it.

It’s a great example where you can study persuasion techniques and the art of influence. Think about it: it’s an extremely controversial topic (at least in Europe, were I’m living).

On the one hand we have people who are afraid of possible results of GMO (genetically modified organisms) foods. Their arguments are that there is not enough science about the long-term effects on humans and nature. Their worstcase scenarios include a worldwide food-crisis (with hundreds of millions starving), global epidemics with hundreds of millions infected and huge amounts of power in the hands of a very few private corporations. Their mission, so to speak, is to “save the world” and in this group you can find everybody from radical activist, to worried consumer, to scientific expert.

On the other hand we have huge corporations like BASF (the worlds biggest chemical corporation) and Monsanto (annual revenue 2007: $8.563 billion) with very strong economic interests. These corporations spend many millions of dollars on lobbying and other forms of influence. Here you can find businesspeople, investors and scientific experts. They too want to “save the world” and claim that genetically energineered foods could solve the hunger problems of the world and will be necessary to feed the growing world population.

So, obviously on both sides there are strong arguments, opposing views and very smart people involved. No matter what position you hold on this issue, you can learn a lot from studying the discussion that is going on about it. Study how these people use influence strategies and persuasion tactics to “win your minds”.

I don’t know if this debate is going on as strongly in the USA as it’s in Europe, because while in the USA genetically engineered foods are already part of the food industry for many years, in Europe there is until today a very strong resistance against introducing these techniques. So check some European online edition of newspaper for discussions.