"Cognitive psychologists have tested this since at least 2003. Readers process the negated noun first, with the intended alternative arriving only after extra processing time."
"If readers can supply an obvious substitute, the brain swaps in the substitute. Without one, the negation tag drops off in over a third of cases, and people remember the affirmed version."
"Once a phrase like 'It's not X, it's Y' spreads across LinkedIn, it stops being a quirk and becomes the basic shape of how ideas get introduced."
"Gonzales's fix: 'Say what it is. Say what you built, what you believe, what you offer.'"
Cognitive psychology research shows that negating terms leads readers to process the negated noun first, delaying understanding of the intended alternative. A study revealed that when readers can provide a substitute, they often do, but without one, they may remember the negation instead. This poses a challenge for phrases like 'This isn't marketing, it's a movement,' as marketing lacks a clear opposite. A 2024 study indicated that AI-generated texts are more similar, suggesting that overused phrases hinder originality. The recommendation is to clearly state what is being offered.
Read at Boing Boing
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]