One day, American psychologist William James bet with his friend Carlson “I will make you raise a bird”, Carlson heard but did not pay too much attention to James’ words, because he had not thought about raising birds.
A few days later, James presented Carlson with a beautiful and delicate birdcage.
“I just see it as a craft,” says Carlson. Since then, anyone who comes to his house and sees an empty birdcage next to his desk will ask when his bird died. .
At first, Carlson patiently explained to each person that he had never kept birds before, that cage was just a gift from a friend. But, the number of people asking did not stop, making Carlson feel very annoyed. Reluctantly, Carlson went to the store to buy a bird and put it in the cage. This is the “bird cage effect”.
The “birdcage effect” refers to people if they randomly get something they don’t need, because they want to avoid waste or for other reasons, they will consciously or unconsciously continue to buy more things that they don’t need. no other need. The feature of the “birdcage effect” is that the psychological suggestion it produces will affect our behavior.
In everyday life, we can take advantage of the birdcage effect to form good habits. For example, if you want to form a reading habit, an open book is easier to read than a closed book. You can try opening the book you want to read next to your pillow, and you can see the effect immediately.
Cracking Your Own World 