I’ve been a victim of being influenced and manipulated. I’ve blindly believed people and what they’ve said and trusted their word without knowing the full context of things and made decisions on them. I’m not completely innocent though I’ve done the same thing to people. In my life I’ve had one Iago in my story that manipulated me and I’ve been the Iago in someone else’s story and influenced and manipulated them. I’ve never made someone do something too bad and I’ve also haven’t done something too bad but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m somewhat like Iago even when I don’t want to admit it and someone I know could be like Iago. Iago has used Roderigo saying that, “If I would time expend with such a snipe/ But for my sport and profit.” (Othello 30). What Iago means by this is that he has to use a fool, Roderigo, to help with his plans. This is what many people do to get what they want, they use a fool and use them to their advantage. I’ve used fools and I’ve been a fool before. The thing about us fools is that we don’t know what they don’t know, also known as the Dunning Kruger Effect. This makes it easier to influence and manipulate people since they’re oblivious to the things people are making them do and that those people are using them. As stated by Errol Morris when he emailed Rumsfeld’s, “Unknown Unknown solutions haunt the mediocre without their knowledge.” But being influenced isn’t always bad. Like for instance in “The Mojave Phone Booth” after the guy posted about the phone booth people were influenced and decided to see it for themselves. Showing how people were easily influenced over one post, but also proves that these things aren’t always bad. People are easily influenced and manipulated whether good or bad it happens to everyone. Showing people are easily influenced and manipulated.

Source: You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know: The Dunning kruger Effect

“The Mojave Phone Booth”, Othello