Wait, it’s mine? Hold on, I do care then!
Our brains form a natural association with the things that we own. Pretend for a moment that you generally prefer most drinks to beer (for many readers, this exercise would be a very difficult one). If we were at a party and I gave you a bottle of beer, you may respond, “Oh that’s okay. I’m not a big fan of beer.” I then respond with, “Nah, just take it! I’ll put it here next to you.”
At this point, you may still not care about this bottle of beer. You may even abandon it when you stand up and leave. But at that moment, if someone walks by, picks up the beer and begins to drink it, you will likely feel the urge to say, “Hey! What are you doing?” They may respond with, “What’s the big deal? You’re not drinking it anyway!” There’s a good chance you would still be unhappy. “Still, you should have asked before taking it.”
Once...