Forgive the title. This is going to be a bit of a longer / more engaging post than it would suggest. Some background: I took a two day sales and communications course for work that is more comprehensive than the scope of this post, but there was one takeaway that firmly implanted in my brain: the power of "because."

In 1978, Ellen Langer (Harvard behavioral scientist) asked some study participants to cut the line at a busy Xerox machine using one of three justifications:

  • "Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine?"
  • "Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make photocopies?"
  • "Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I'm in a rush?"

What do you think the compliance rates were for each condition? My guess was "very low" for condition A, "low" for condition B, and "high" for condition C. The answer is:

  • 60%
  • 93%
  • 94%

There was virtually no difference between the two "because" cases--in one case a placebic / bullshit justification and the other a real justification. The reason this works is because the human brain desires narrative and causality. If something happens, we want to know why. We despise senselessness and crave reason.

So how does this translate into the real world? Use "because" any time you need compliance. For openers:

"I had to come over and say hi because ________"

It does not matter what comes after because.

  • I had to come over and say hi because you're cute
  • I had to come over and say hi because you look like fun
  • I had to come over and say hi because it's nice outside
  • I had to come over and say hi because I saw you
  • I had to come over and say hi because I wanted to

The above are all 100% real "lines" I used yesterday to get five numbers: two French girls, a Brazilian ballerina, a psych grad student and a musical theater actress.

How about when you get the girl's number?

  • Give me your number because you seem cool
  • Give me your number because it will be fun
  • Give me your number because we need to hang out
  • Give me your number because then I'll have it for later

It does not matter what comes after because

Try it! Try saying the most mundane thing in the world, it won't matter. Just a reminder to not kill yourself over what to say. Fill in the blank with anything, even no justification at all.