Chapter Highlights
I'm not as good at powerpoint as you guys are, so i thought i'd post my thoughts onto the Blog:
Some key points from the Chapters I wrote as I read along. It took me a while to finish the book, but i thought it was a generally good read with some interesting points.
I thought it wsa interesting we've attracted some interest from outside sources (see Heidi and Gretchen's post) from the university. Goes to show the power of sharing and broadening one's experience.
I liked in Chapter 2, page 69 he writes "we are quick to discover explanations for things we don't have explainations for". I think today's society is based on white lies, and this is why we are so prone to do this. Young children don't have a problem saying people are ugly or fat or some other characteristic, but yet we're fired at work for doing so. Could lying be a defense mechanism from the cover your butt theory so prevalent in the working class society?
Also if everyone hasn't tried one of the IAT's at the HARVARD website you should, it was hilarious, and I apparently hate people, all of them.
I thought some of the thoughts and stories Malcom presented were contraditory,,,but then after reading p144 I thought that maybe overanalyzing would cause you to lose the data, but instead it could be the production of too much information that drowns out what you really want to know.
Finally, with that in mind, couldn't this book really be summed up in the old adage: "The devil's in the {important} details" vs. 7 chapters?
Comments
Posted by: cool
Posted on: March 22, 2006 01:22 PM
Adam,
I'm curious as to what you mean by "I think today's society is based on white lies, and how that may impact our quest for explanations." Is this specifically in the context of the book you are reading or a more general observation? Do you find this specifically today, or historically? I suspect that the Victorians were far more adept at the practice than are we.
Philosophers have long pondered the morality of the white lie, and I think most find, that when told in the interest of kindness and manners it is not only morally allowed, but often preferred. A statement's moral place in the world should be considered not on its truth or falseness alone, but on how and why it is used.
While the child has not yet learned that to say "Jane Doe is fat" is considered to be rude, the person in the workplace has. When a worker makes such a statement, We don't think, "my that Fred is observant, Jane is fat."
Instead we wonder about Fred. "What does Fred have against Jane?", "I wonder what horrible things Fred says about me, when I'm not around." or "If Fred doesn't have the common sense to keep his mouth shut, how can he have enough sense to make the payroll deadline, hire the ad agency, approve the strategic plan, or whatever it is that Fred is supposed to be doing."
His rudeness leads us to question not only his attitude, but also his competency. (Not to mention the affect such comments place on the morale of his co-workers).
You also mentioned the possibility that lying could be a defense mechanism to support covering one's butt. I think that when people do that, whether passing the blame to someone else, or making fall statements to belie a lack of research, they'll eventually get caught.
Few of us work in a vacuum so it is easy for others to figure out when someone has both dropped the ball and lied about it. Given that we're all human and capable of making mistakes it usually works out much better to be truthful and to keep a paper trail. In these cases I think people lie because they are thinking of reducing short term stress instead of long-term stress.
Well given that I'm not in this class I've probably babbled quite enough for today.
Posted by: Adam
Posted on: March 24, 2006 04:40 PM
Heidi thanks for posting!
I'm curious as to what you mean by "I think today's society is based on white lies, and how that may impact our quest for explanations." Is this specifically in the context of the book you are reading or a more general observation?
~Both. In the novel, it seems when an answer cannot be found, the first gut instinct is to create an answer. In society, it seems to me more often than not that we are hard to find someone that is quick to accept blame when a challege/error arises.
Philosophers have long pondered the morality of the white lie, and I think most find, that when told in the interest of kindness and manners it is not only morally allowed, but often preferred. A statement's moral place in the world should be considered not on its truth or falseness alone, but on how and why it is used.
~good point, but the importance of the context sensitivity is rarely recognized!
...Few of us work in a vacuum so it is easy for others to figure out when someone has both dropped the ball and lied about it. Given that we're all human and capable of making mistakes it usually works out much better to be truthful and to keep a paper trail. In these cases I think people lie because they are thinking of reducing short term stress instead of long-term stress.
Which makes me think...if people reading Blink and following its suggestions are now making instinctive decisions within the first few moments of meeting someone or confronting a problem, are they always then running the risk of making a long-term error? Is there a way to prove short term gut wins out as a correct/better decision vs. a well thought out plan, or are they simply apples and organges?