Why does the first number you see shape your judgment?
The first number you hear quietly sets the price for everything after it.
When making estimates, people latch onto the first piece of numerical information they encounter - the anchor - and adjust from it insufficiently. Even arbitrary or irrelevant numbers can pull your final answer toward them.
A jacket dropped from $400 to $180 feels like a steal - the $400 did all the work.
The first number in any negotiation or estimate has outsized power over what you settle on.
Open with your number in any negotiation, salary talk, or price, and you set the anchor instead of fighting someone else's.
Anchor = the first number drops, and the rest of the boat drags toward it.
Learn the idea and practice English at the same time.