Congratulations! 🎉

Secretly he really loves Reservoir Dogs but thinks admitting it would hurt his credibility

You should take this post down since it includes six people who voted no

6/ Overall, we’re freer to just ask for big things than existing theory suggests. The pressure falls on recipients, who must respond to high-stakes requests—requiring their time, energy, or social capital—already set in motion by others.

5/ Turns out people use pre-requests only when there’s an obvious, local obstacle that can’t be ignored. But even then, they lean optimistic: 67% of pre-requests favor a positive outcome. Not “Are you busy...?” but “Are you free this weekend?”

4/ By contrast, opening with a pre-request (“Are you busy this weekend?”) tests the waters before the ask and offers an easy way out if needed. Smart move, right? But it’s also inherently pessimistic: it anticipates and draws attention to a potential problem.

3/ Instead of cautiously checking (“Are you busy this weekend?”), people usually dive straight in (“Can you help me move?”). They open with base requests 76% of the time, and those turns are overwhelmingly designed to nudge others toward yes.

2/ We looked at “major” requests—those that cost time, energy, or social capital. Only 21% got an easy yes. With big asks, resistance is the norm, not the exception. Still, people lead with optimism, and they do so in two main ways.

Interesting moment to be fat shaming military personnel. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Reminds me of this classic xkcd:

xkcd.com/2368/