The power of framing: It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it

The 2016 election and a wealth of psychological data show how much our reasoning can be influenced by how information is framed

In March 2016, before Trump was selected as the Republican nominee, cognitive scientist George Lakoff was already concerned about the emerging Trump phenomenon. So he wrote an article called "Understanding Trump" that details the ways in which Trump "uses your brain against you" - and sent it to every member of the Clinton campaign.

Lakoff researches how framing influences reasoning, or how the way we say something often matters much more than what we say. And he has used his research to inform how Democrats can better frame their party positions. He consolidated his advice for Democrats in his book, Don't think of an elephant! The title conveys one of its main insights: if you negate a frame, you strengthen a frame. In other words, if you say "don't think of an elephant," you can't help but think of one.