It's not too dissimilar to kids who learn how to manipulate their parents (and other adults sometimes). Or women who learn the very blatant and workable angles with which they can easily manipulate a man into simping out for her benefit. Or male pickup artists who figure out just what kind of tricks appeal to a woman's sentiment and sense of self.

It's about manipulation and knowing what tricks get past a person's defenses, and some people just operate off of this principle as default behavior.

Another fun example: To appeal to a typical lefty NPC, all you need to do is impress upon them how X impacts the homeless, poor, minorities, etc. to get them to buy into an idea hook line and sinker.

In a way, maybe one part of why logical, sensible, sane people ended up getting so easily shoved off to the sidelines is specifically because they have little interest in falling for these mindgames or being active participants/users.