Social scientists have determined that we accept inner responsibility for a behavior when we think we have chosen to perform it in the absence of str… - Robert B. Cialdini

Do you consider yourself a helpful person?” Following brief reflection, nearly everyone answered yes. In that privileged moment — after subjects had confirmed privately and affirmed publicly their helpful natures — the researchers pounced, requesting help with their survey. Now 77.3 percent volunteered.

Advertisers love to inform us when a product is the “fastest-growing” or “largest-selling” because they don’t have to convince us directly that the product is good, they need only say that many others think so, which seems proof enough.

Abraham’s willingness to plunge a dagger through the heart of his young son because God, without any explanation, ordered it. We learn in this story that the correctness of an action was not judged by such considerations as apparent senselessness, harmfulness, injustice, or usual moral standards, but by the mere command of a higher authority.