I've met many people in my life just like your classmate. They're especially common in the real estate industry. You're right, the world is crazy.
When making my cases at work, I need to frame the talking points from the perspective of how choosing my decision will benefit the person's salary.
I don't know if I like that realization, but it seems logical.
It doesn't feel good to manipulate people like that. I feel like they should know what's best for them and decide with the facts. But maybe they don't know better for themselves or their priorities in life are different.
To think about programming people like I think about programming computers feels dehumanizing. Like I shouldn't be doing it.
Like it's wrong to take someone's freewill away.
That's essentially the definition of a bubble cycle: a mass delusion, eventually suddenly punctured by the imposition of reality.