Τυφλά σημεία: Γιατί οι έξυπνοι άνθρωποι κάνουν ηλίθια πράγματα

by Madeleine L. Van Hecke, Ευηνέλλα Αλεξοπούλου (Translator)

Η λογική και η ορθή κρίση χαρακτηρίζει τον ανθρώπινο νου σε ποσοστό ογδόντα με ενενήντα τοις εκατό των περιπτώσεων. Τι γίνεται, όμως, με τις υπόλοιπες περιπτώσεις, όταν σπεύδουμε να βγάλουμε συμπεράσματα, όταν δε δίνουμε στον εαυτό μας το χρόνο να σκεφτεί διεξοδικά κάποια κατάσταση ή όταν βλέπουμε το δέντρο και χάνουμε το δάσος;

Σε αυτό το βιβλίο, η κλινική ψυχολόγος Madeleine L. Van Hecke επεξηγεί πώς οι γκάφες δεν είναι απλώς περιστατικά, κατά τα οποία συμπεριφερθήκαμε "τόσο ανόητα!", και αποδίδει τις πράξεις αυτές σε τυφλά σημεία - σε στιγμιαία σφάλματα που συμβαίνουν όταν κάποιο πλεονέκτημά μας στρέφεται εναντίον μας και γίνεται το μεγαλύτερο μειονέκτημα.

Σελίδες με παραδείγματα και τακτικές για να καταπολεμάμε εκείνες τις στιγμές που λέμε "Αν είναι ποτέ δυνατόν!", το βιβλίο "Τυφλά Σημεία" είναι ένα πνευματώδες αντίδοτο στις αβάσιμες σκέψεις. Μας βοηθάει να ξεπεράσουμε τα τυφλά μας σημεία, να διευρύνουμε τους δημιουργικούς μας ορίζοντες, να επιλύουμε ουσιαστικά τα προβλήματά μας και να τα βγάζουμε πέρα με τα εκνευριστικά τυφλά σημεία των άλλων.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help, Business, Philosophy, Sociology, Science

310 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why do smart people do dumb things?

Never underestimate the effort some people will expend in order not to think.
People don't take into account what they don't know.
People don't pay attention to details.
People don't understand themselves very well... The unexamined life is not worth living.
People allow their philosophical/religious biases to over come their common sense.
Not thinking outside the box. Trapped by assumptions.
Jump to conclusions. Allowing the narrative to dictate results.
Not examining the evidence carefully.
Missing hidden causes.
Not seeing the big picture.

[Nathan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring book, I learnt nothing.

The author uses stories to illustrate blind spots; this can be a good way to get across an idea (Carl Sagan excels at this), in this case the author fails.

Each chapter goes like this: 1. OH HAI so one day I did this stupid thing but it turns out that it wasn't stupid after all, it was just a "blind spot". 2. What I did was stupid... I mean a blind spot because (insert common sense here). 3. In a nutshell... lets recap this chapter (you're an idiot). Remember the story I did a few pages ago? Lets recap not much at all. When will this book end?

Here is an example of the calibre of conclusions in this book:
"Religion, along with some philosophical views, deals with a reality that can not be seen, measured, or "proven" scientifically, a reality that scientific methods cannot detect". - mm hmmm reality = things which can not be seen or measured.

Don't bother.

This amazon reviewer says it better than me: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3E4XTQG...

[Murali Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blind Spots: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things by Madeleine L. Van Hecke. After reading the blurb and subtitle "Why smart people do dumb things?" I picked this one with more expectations. In the end truly its not much satisfied me only my view this.

Generally its a good one for the self-improvement or philosophical book beginners, Psychology has a long history of being fascinated with "Intelligence" but has only recently turned its attention to "stupidity" Some of the questions and answers are generally like it common rises often but we leave without giving much importance or some of them we didn't see overhead. Filled with examples and tactics that's somewhere boring because of my less patience.

My rating - 3.5/5.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Van Hecke's narrative is organized into succinct chapters focussed around 10 themes, the take home message of the book can be summed up in a simple word. Think. Many of our problems could be avoided and even solved if we simply slowed down and took the time to think. Think about an issue from an alternative point of view, think about others and think about what their lives might be like in comparison to your own. This engaging book is well written and definitely made me think. The author's use of personal anecdotes and engaging classroom examples were spot on, educating and encouraging the reader to see around the blind spots that cause us to bump into the walls of distrust and misunderstanding. This is, by no means, a bad book. I was just expecting something else, something a bit more biological and a bit less psychological, and for what it is worth, the majority of the advice in the book is stuff I've heard before, and stuff that, to me, just seems like common sense. Obviously, it isn't common sense to everyone, and we would all be better off if we took a deep breath and thought about what we were about to say or do.

[Noorin Hasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a great book for beginning psychology. One of those few books that truly changed my perspectives. I remember borrowing it and I thought it would take me a while to finish it, little did i know that the book was going to turn me into a bookworm. I would luv to actually own it =)

[Mark Slee]

I was pretty underwhelmed by this book. The concept is decent, but I just found the presentation to be a little rambly and not as engaging as many other similar books.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a clever, funny, and eye-opening book. Clearly worth a read if you want to brush off a criticising/judging attitude and grow in understanding and tolerance.

[Mathew Vondersaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid mix of stories and pyschology to depict common falacies in judgement, or silly things done by people. Not too complex, with stories that illistarate the points well enough.

It felt more like a generally solid book, without too many out there or interesting things to sink my teeth into. Additionally, tackling a subject as large as "why people can be stupid" in a single book is a bit much and dosen't really give the us much time to dig deep into any subject matter, so a fair deal of commentary is just below the sruface level.

Can't really say I recommend it, but I can't say it's a bad read. Its mostly just kinda there.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concepts seem sound, but I’m not sure how to use this information going forward.

[Theodoros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth a read.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

*An eye-opening read*

_Blind Spots_ offers an eye-opening look at the common culprits which cause us all to do "dumb things" at one time or another. Among these blind spots are: not taking time to think before acting; not knowing what we don't know; missing the obvious; failing to see ourselves; failing to see another person's perspective; being trapped by categories and missing the complexity of people, objects and events; being blind to our errors in thinking; failing to see evidence clearly and objectively; jumping to conclusions when we opt for simple explanations instead of the more likely hidden and complex causes; and failing to think systemically to see the relationships and connections among elements. In addition to illuminating these blind spots, the book offers suggestions and tactics to overcome each of them. By opening our eyes to the common blunders of our thinking, _Blind Spots_ can also allow us to open our hearts and become more tolerant towards the differences of others.

[Sungjoon Hwang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breaking the expectation that it will be boring, the book itself is quite interesting and down to earth but in some way sharp as well. It convincingly demonstrates the causes and countermeasures of blind spots in thinking and judgment based on practical theories and experiments.

On a broader level, the author points out that blind spots explain psychological and behavioral errors and the causes of conflict between groups and individuals. The applied cases are very practical and persuasive as those that anyone would have experienced.

She says it is necessary to intentionally look at the blind spots from the perspective of others who are actually the subjects of conflict in order to correctly understand the issues we are facing and it is the reason why the existence of others is needed.

In fact, a friend recommended this book ten years ago, and finally I am done with it now. Would it have changed my life if I had read it at the time? It might have and it can even now, I believe

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been doing research into a possible dissertation topic w/r/t decision-making. I've read several popular books to get oriented and this was easily the worst. The idea that we have "blind spots" is not particularly illuminating and the majority of the author's evidence is anecdotal rather than experimental. Worst of all is her writing style, which would be better suited to a "Ladies Home Journal" article, littered as it is with jokey asides and lots of exclamation points, e.g., "How could I have been so dumb!?!". What starts out aiming to be an exploration of the "why" behind bad decision-making ends up being a self-help book that almost no one thinks they need.

[Chason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book. Shines a light on how easy it is to overlook some of the most obvious things in life. One of the main things I take from this book is that in any situation when dealing with other people empathy is a very valuable tool to use. If you can recognize how someone else is feeling and thinking and you know where they are "coming from" you can often predict what they will do next and it is much easier to understand why they do what they do.

[Ella · Rating 1 out of 5]

great topic -- awful book. Some big errors and the book is mostly common sense. There is science here, I'd suggest it get used in a book on this topic! There are much better works out there. I'll get around to adding them in w/ reviews here at some point, but I'm unpacking boxes from work shelves to home, and the giveaways must get dealt with first!

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. There's a lot of "we should just try to understand each other better" rhetoric that gets a little old sometimes, but the value of this book is not overshadowed by that by any means. It's a wonderful book that helps explain why we, people we love, and people we hate, do some of the dumbass things we do...

[Andrew S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book works well and holds the whole concept together thanks to the short stories told in each chapter as real life examples. But it's difficult to get what this book is actually all about, perhaps it tries to explain that everyone may have different thoughts and opinions about the same basic subjects.

[Barry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick light read which I thought might be more penetrating. The premise that we have Blind Spots is supported anecdotally. It leads me to wonder how the specific instances she cites could be experimentally confirmed and how the thesis could be resolved to other attention issues.

[Gary Cohen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this book. It give you very insightful thinking on how we fool ourselves and don't see the full picture. Additionally the author gives you ways to help illuminate some of the those blind spots for you.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who are familiar with psychology and critical thinking will not find anything new. A very basic, self-help style, book. Quick and easy to get through, adequate examples, and a plethora of reading recommendations.

[Ko Matsuo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides an easy to understand and apply framework to explain irrational human behavior. This framework has helped me identify and understand my own blind spots that have led to my own failures in patience and communication.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the concepts, and liked the examples, but did not like the way it was presented. Interesting read, but could have been approached better. It did, however, did get better as the book went on.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covers the same subject matter as Thinking, Fast and Slow (how we think, and where "intuitive" or shortcut thinking leads us astray), but not as thoroughly and it's not as interesting to read.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book for any one who wants to be more self aware... Enlightens a lot about modern and societal issues with linkages to development of an individual, and practical everyday life issues.

[pea. · Rating 5 out of 5]

informative, enlightening and witty while still being academic.

[Arianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I'm going to need to read this one a few times to really catch on to everything she is saying. I like the anecdotes and examples used - they make it all more relatable.

[Marita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice easily understood concepts. Explanation of them went just a bit overboard and over analyzed. Look around and stop and think before you act would go a long way in life...

[Alexandru Barac]

good book

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super short quick read that points out common things. I thought that this book was mails common sense derived.

[Cher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not informative at all.