Animals have fixed action patterns — automatic behaviors triggered by a single feature of their environment. A mother turkey will nurture anything that makes the 'cheep cheep' sound of her chicks, even a stuffed polecat with a speaker inside. Remove the sound and she attacks her own young. These patterns are efficient most of the time, but they can be exploited.

Humans have equivalents. We use mental shortcuts — what Cialdini calls 'click, whirr' responses — to navigate a world drowning in information. When a trigger appears, we launch an automatic response without much conscious thought. This saves mental energy but opens the door to manipulation.

The key insight is that these shortcuts are usually sensible. The problem arises when someone deliberately mimics the trigger to extract compliance they haven't genuinely earned.