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The Daily Dish - 2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan

Just Because

By The Daily Dish
May 2 2009, 9:37 AM ET

Scott Adams marvels at "The Power of Ridiculous Reasons":

The human mind is wired to accept ridiculous reasons as if they are legitimate. Studies have shown that people are more likely to agree to a favor if the word "because" is used in the request. It doesn't seem to matter what follows that word. As long as the sentence is in the form of a reason, people accept it as though some actual reason is present.


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