Monday, April 4, 2011

Book Reading #44 - Why We Make Mistakes

Chapter 4: We Wear Rose Colored Glasses
Summary:
Humans recall experiences of their actions more favorably than what actually happens. Disclosing bias does not do anything to eliminate the effects of that bias, and sometimes even makes the result worse. Several examples of how people do not remember their role in events are examined, most notably test scores and John Dean's role in Watergate.
Chapter 5: We Can Walk and Chew Gum - but Not Much Else
Summary:
People are terrible at "multi-tasking," which is a myth anyways. In spite of this fact, cars are becoming increasingly distracting. Distraction caused 78% of all car accidents with a camera in the car, and 65% of all near accidents.
Discussion (both):
I really enjoyed these chapters as well. I like how many examples he uses. I found the part about the Nixon-Watergate to be the most interesting part about the first chapter, and the facts about car accidents to be most interesting about the second chapter. I think Chapter 4 just shows how little you should believe from your friends, or "take it with a grain of salt." Chapter 5 makes me want to never buy a new car.

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