And the wet mass of brain tissue between our ears is like clockwork. Which is to say, in part, that we thrive on routine and consistency, but more importantly, what's happening in our brains is a very delicate process.

Think of what's happening in people's brains as a complicated system of little cogs and gears that all fit together, the teeth of the which are transferring motion to and from each other, and all working in concert in order to make them turn. And like clocks, we have faces that depict what's happening under the hood.

If you want to change what a person is thinking, you're up against the clockwork. If you want to influence a person so that they agree with your point of view, you have to carefully make the message fit into the machinery that's already there. And changes in the machinery happen only at the whim and discretion of the clock. It's not up to you, no matter how much you want to change the cogs and how they work.

If you just start jamming stuff into their heads without being careful, it's going to disrupt the flow and ultimately, the clock is going to reject it. They probably won't invite you back, either.