Sometimes the best way to get someone to buy something is to give that person something because the human brain is wired to return a favor once one has been accepted. For example, if someone gives you a gift—it doesn’t have to be an especially impressive or valuable one—you feel a moral sense of obligation that you’ve been conditioned to feel since birth. “Listen, Chase. If Reid gives you a cookie, you should share a piece of your orange with him; it’s the right thing to do.”

This learned behavior is a primary societal teaching because socialization teaches us that the best results come from mutual cooperation. If I help you, you’ll help me. If we help ...

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