Thursday, April 7, 2011

Book Reading #46 - Why We Make Mistakes

Chapter 6: We’re in the Wrong Frame of Mind
Summary:
Our frame of mind, or frame of reference, is a key part in our interactions. For example, the first offer in negotiations, such as the listing price of a house, becomes the anchor, or frame of reference, for all future offers. Also, we don't notice when grocery stores charge more for non-sale items after advertising a sale. 
Chapter 7: We Skim
Summary:
Humans tend to not notice the finer details when doing something that is routine to them or that they've done many times before. As a result, newspapers are constantly printing mistakes, and music sight readers will miss errors in the notes. Also, the book provides an example of a woman hanging herself in her tree on Halloween, and people not noticing because they thought it was a decoration.

Discussion:
I thought the bit about the grocery stores was really interesting. I'm not sure this chapter (6) is properly titled though. I don't see how the frame of mind really comes into play, but rather just the point of reference or context. Context is also really important in some of the next chapter, such as when he's describing where people learn things. I thought the part about the woman hanging herself was very telling and interesting. However, I am worried this book is going to get repetitive. 

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