This week, every time you hear or say the word ‘but,’ silently test yourself to see if you could have worded things differently by replacing the ‘but’ with the word ‘and.’

 “I like your idea, but I don’t think it’s feasible.”

vs.

“I like your idea, and I’m wondering how feasible it is.

The word ‘but’ triggers a mental closing. It wipes out all positive words said before it. The word ‘and,’ on the other hand, builds bridges. In our research, we’ve found that it opens doors to further conversation.

This Experiment was created by Prof. Matt Riley (Max Planck Institute, Netherlands)