Don't Read This Article

I'm sick of it. All the so-called communicationexperts keep declaring that your mind cannot processa negative command. They say "Don't spill the milk"means you'll spill the milk. They say your mind doesn'trespond to "don't" and in fact skips over it. As aresult, you end up seeing the rest of the statementas a command. You then spill the milk.

Bull. The very first words most people heargrowing up is "NO" and "Don't". We learn right awaynot to poop in our pants, or eat the dirt, or swing thecat by the tail, or spill our milk. The only reason wemight still spill our milk is sheer awkwardness orclumsiness, not because of a communication issue.

This is one of the things wrong with NLP and othercommunication modalities that claim to know how ourbrains work. They make wild claims and act as if theyare universal truths. After all, no one really knowshow the brain works. We're still learning. To say wedon't process negative commands is an arrogantstatement. It assumes god-like powers. And it's wrong.

Look at the title of this article. I inserted theword "don't." Why? Because the word actuallyhelps make the title more interesting. It increasespersuasion. Had I said, "Read This Article," youmight not read it simply because it seemedun-interesting. But add the word "Don't" andsuddenly you're curious. 'Why doesn't Joe wantme to read this?," you wonder. The word 'Don't'is seen and registered by your mind. You didn'tmiss it, did you?

Again, communication is more than assumptions abouthow our minds process information. You learned whatmany negative words meant at three years old. Yourunconscious mind is well aware of what they mean today.

Don't tell others about this article. Don't passthis article to friends and family. Don't go buy all mybooks and tapes. Don't send me money.

You see the word 'don't' and you'll do what youplease. If you want to pass this article to friends,you will. If you don't, you won't. My trying to trickyou with a negative command is ridiculous. You'resmarter than that. Aren't you?

Kevin Hogan, author of "The Psychology ofPersuasion," says, "Negative command words ingeneral indicate the person will remember or codein deeper whatever was discussed. This doesn'tmean they will act one way or the other. It simplymakes the command/idea/request more likely to beremembered."

Exactly. My adding "Don't" to the title of thisarticle simply made it more memorable. It didn't*make* you read this article at all.

The only time the 'don't trick' works is to getsomeone to *think* something. In order words,if I say, "Don't think of Sophia Loren," youcan't help but think of the famous actress. Butthinking is different than action.

Yes, thinking can lead to action. But whatwe're focusing on here is communication. IfI say, "Don't think of buying my books," you*will* think of buying them, at least for a second.But if I say, "Don't buy my books," it does notmean you will run out and buy them. You arenot a robot.

Let's wake up. Let's realize that we are smarterthan generalized rules of language. Let's stoppretending we are all trained monkeys.

Don't you agree?