There was a book called Nudge that takes up this topic to some extent, basically hacking people's decisions in "beneficial" ways, like making healthy foods more prominent in grocery stores, or changing organ donation from opt in to opt out. (Not sure those examples are entirely representative of the book, but they're the main ones I remember.) I was ambivalent. It was interesting what could be done to subconsciously influence people, but I bristle at the idea of being manipulated without my awareness, even if it's already prevalent, because usually it's done to benefit other-than-me.
My approach to education requires the students understand the subject and build their own representations. Nudging in the large is not acceptable to me, but it the small perhaps to gain the tools for understanding. Tricking someone into understanding a thing for themselves seems ok.
