Idea Name

Context / Source

Malcolm Gladwell What If a Simple Proposition Could Help Millions of Smokers Stop Smoking?

url: https://malcolmgladwell.bulletin.com/what-if-a-simple-proposition-could-help-millions-of-smokers-stop-smoking Tweet url:

Key Idea

He went up to people who had just joined a gym and said: I’ll reimburse you the cost of your membership, plus twenty percent, if you agree to quit right now. What happens? The people he tempts are less likely to quit than the people he doesn’t tempt. Ayres had stumbled onto a lovely little psychological paradox. The act of successfully resisting temptation appears to steel your resolve.

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