GrandRising | Subject Substitution & The Manipulation Most Miss

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I have a habit.

🤷🏽‍♀️

And often times I can't avoid it.

I notice the subject.

Not the personality.

Not the emotion.

Not whether I agree.

The subject.

Question.

Have you ever been talking about one thing, only to realize halfway through the conversation that you weren't talking about it anymore?

Interesting.

Because I've noticed humans do this constantly.

One person introduces a subject.

The other introduces a different one.

Then, when someone points out that the original subject was never addressed, someone inevitably says,

"That's just how conversations work."

Bombastic side-eye.

Bruh...

No.

That is not how conversations work.

That is how subject substitution works.

Those do not equate.

A conversation requires a shared subject.

Not shared beliefs.

Not shared politics.

Not shared religion.

Not shared education.

Not shared values.

Not even shared conclusions.

A shared subject.

Agreement is optional.

Disagreement is expected.

The subject, however, must remain the subject.

Otherwise, you are no longer responding.

You are redirecting.

Question.

If I ask about apples, and you answer with oranges...

Have you answered my question?

No.

You've answered a different one.

If I ask,

"What is being said?"

And you answer,

"Where did you learn that?"

You've changed the subject.

If I ask,

"Is this distinction accurate?"

And you answer,

"I don't trust your source."

You've changed the subject.

If I ask,

"What phenomenon are we observing?"

And you answer,

"That isn't from God."

Bruh...

Whether it came from God...

Wasn't the subject.

If I ask,

"What does this word mean?"

And you answer,

"You read too many books."

Books were not the subject.

If I ask,

"Can we examine this idea?"

And you answer,

"ChatGPT can't help you."

Whether ChatGPT can help...

Wasn't the subject.

The subject...

Was the idea.

Those do not equate.

Now before anyone starts sweating...

This isn't about religion.

Religion was merely the vehicle.

Tomorrow it could be politics.

Science.

Academia.

Marriage.

Business.

Family.

Social media.

The mechanism remains exactly the same.

Humans replace the subject.

Sometimes intentionally.

Sometimes defensively.

Sometimes emotionally.

Sometimes accidentally.

The motivation changes.

The phenomenon does not.

Notice something.

I didn't say they lied.

Subject substitution doesn't require a lie.

It only requires a replacement.

A lie changes reality.

Subject substitution changes the conversation.

Those do not equate.

Here's where it becomes fascinating.

The longer the substitute subject remains at the center of attention...

The easier it becomes to forget there was ever an original one.

How many arguments ended without the original question ever being answered?

How many debates were declared "won" while both people had spent twenty minutes discussing completely different subjects?

How many friendships have fractured because each person believed the other had answered...

When neither one remained with the same subject?

Humans often mistake continued talking for continued conversation.

Bombastic side-eye.

Bruh...

Talking is not the same phenomenon as conversing.

Two mouths can produce ten thousand words...

And never share the same subject.

Those do not equate.

Then comes my favorite part.

Someone finally notices.

"Wait..."

"You never answered the original subject."

Suddenly the responses begin.

"You're overthinking."

"That's just how conversations flow."

"Stop arguing semantics."

"You know what I meant."

Bombastic side-eye.

Bruh...

Semantics is literally the study of meaning.

If we're discussing meaning...

How exactly would semantics be off topic?

Interesting.

Have you ever noticed how often people accuse someone of "arguing semantics" the moment the distinctions become inconvenient?

Without distinctions...

Language begins to collapse.

Different phenomena become the same thing.

Confusion begins masquerading as understanding.

Those do not equate.

Here's the manipulation most people miss.

It isn't the raised voice.

It isn't confidence.

It isn't charisma.

It isn't even the opinion.

It's convincing someone the original subject was answered...

When it never was.

Read that again.

Not ignored.

Not refuted.

Not disproven.

Replaced.

Quietly.

Until the substitute feels like the original.

Question.

The next time you leave a conversation feeling strangely confused...

Don't ask,

"Who won?"

Don't ask,

"Who was right?"

Ask something far more important.

What was the original subject?

What subject are we discussing now?

When did it change?

Because if you cannot answer those three questions...

There is a very real possibility...

The conversation didn't progress.

It drifted.

One of the greatest acts of intellectual respect is remaining with the subject long enough to actually answer it.

Now...

That...

Is how conversations work.

GrandRising. 🍵