Before answering that question I’d like to tell you a couple of stories related to human psychology and the ability of one individual to persuade another to do what they want them to do.

Various scientific studies have documented mechanical patterns of response in animals to certain stimuli of the brain.  One of these studies demonstrated how a mother turkey could be stimulated to act in a nurturing manner to infant polecats even though they are natural enemies.

This particular study revealed that by simply emitting the cheep-cheep-cheep sounds made by baby turkeys, mother turkeys could be induced to nurture baby polecats. 

This reaction to a simple sound takes place even though polecats are mortal enemies of the turkey.  The smell, touch and appearance seemed to have had no overriding influence over the mother turkey’s behavior.



This nurturing response is the result of eons of evolution wherein mother turkeys have an instinctual drive to nurture based simply on a sound.

This same type of stimuli and reaction can also be found in human behavior.  A well-known principle of human behavior says that when asking a favor of someone we are likely to be more successful if we provide a reason for our request.

A Harvard study revealed the validity of this theory in a particular experiment that involved a copy machine and the act of requesting a favor with and without the provision of a reason.

It seems that the word “because” triggers an automatic mechanical pattern of response in humans the same way that the cheep-cheep-cheep sound of young poults cause mother turkeys to react. 

The response produced is a higher level of compliance to another’s request.  Don’t be surprised by the power of the word “because”.  It seems we humans have been sub-consciously programmed over the ages to respond positively to requests that have the slightest amount of reason attached to them.

If you think about it, it makes sense.  Which of the following two requests will likely be more successful?

Hello Mr. Thomas?  I’m Gene Benson with Pension Resources.  I’d like to talk with you about a special product we’ve developed for the 401k market.

Now compare that to:

Hello Mr. Thomas?  I’m Gene Benson with Pension Resources.  I’m calling because I have a little favor to ask of you.  Could I have two minutes of your time please?

Most of us know little about mechanical-response behavior.  We fail to recognize the patterns and worse, we do not recognize when they are being used to our detriment.

Stay tuned to our next release and I’ll provide a reference source for more information on mechanical-response patterns.  I’ll also demonstrate what Contrasts and Krishna’s have in common with Polecats.