Blind Spots: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things
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List Price: $19.98
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Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
Written By: Madeleine L. Van Hecke
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 153
EAN: 9781591025092
ISBN: 1591025095
Label: Prometheus Books
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 250
Publication Date: 2007-04-26
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Studio: Prometheus Books
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Editorial Reviews for Blind Spots: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things
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A woman planning a dinner party calls a gourmet caterer and learns that "Chateaubriand" can be ordered. To which she responds, "No, thanks. We're going to take care of the wine ourselves." The dead silence at the end of the phone is her first clue that something is amiss. A CEO attempts to put an end to complaints from employees about the demeaning behavior of certain managers by berating the managers before the staff--thus reinforcing the very behavior he's trying to correct. We often criticize such incidents with remarks like "How dumb!" or "What was he thinking?" But psychologist Madeleine L. Van Hecke argues that much of what we label stupidity can better be explained as blind spots. Just as the blind spot in the driver's side mirror can swallow up a passing car, patterns in the way we think can likewise become blind spots, sifting out information and observations that to other people seem obvious. Drawing on research in creativity, cognitive psychology, critical thinking, child development, education, and philosophy, Dr. Van Hecke shows how our assets as thinkers create the very blind spots that become our worst liabilities. She devotes a chapter to each of ten mental blind spots that afflict even the smartest people: not stopping to think, jumping to conclusions, my-side bias, getting trapped by categories, and much more. At the end of each chapter she offers tactics for overcoming that specific blind spot, so we can become more creative and competent thinkers. Full of funny, poignant stories about human foibles, Blind Spots offers many insights for improving our social and political lives while giving us fresh slants into the minds of people who are poles apart from ourselves.
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Consumer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Clear and concise explanation
Comment: I found this book to be very good and I recommend it to others who are looking for ways to identify and fix performance blind spots. Explanations were very clear and I had no trouble following the content. I thought the recommendations, provided by the book to help identify and remedy my blind spots when dealing with situations and people, were excellent.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Pablum!!!
Comment: I had high expectations but all I got was common sense....stop and think, look from somebody else's perspective, etc. This was very disappointing. I expected some science and some insight.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Too much common sense & too little insight
Comment: I must start by saying I only read the first 65 or so pages (about 1/3rd of the book) before the author lost my attention. She filled the first several pages with a shallow discussion of commom tenets your parents or teachers probably already shared with you. I paraphrase: 'Stop and think before you act'; 'What you don't know CAN hurt you'; 'Don't miss the forest for the trees.'
In the subsequent chapters, she attempted to dive more deeply into the reasons these tenets ring true. As I read through the discussion, I came away with the distinct impression that I was stuck in an entry level class on human behavior at a community college. Her analysis lacked depth; her analogies were flat or did not fit. She offered little insight into an intriguing topic.
Based on the reviews I read before purchasing the book, I expected more rigor and critical analysis than I found. The book's concept has promise. Unfortunately, the author did not deliver.
Because I was intrigued by the topic, I've continued to look for books that could better help me understand common blind spots. Although narrowly focused on the idea of self-deception, I thought "Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)" gave a thorough analysis of a common blind spot many of us experience.
I also found meaningful insights about the physiology of the brain that creates some of our blind spots in "On Being Certain." The author's statements were supported by conclusions drawn from peer-reviewed studies - the type of rigor I expected but did not find in 'Blind Spots.'
Customer Rating:
Summary: Get ...and stay...Smart!
Comment: If every person in a position of responsibility read this book, perhaps there would be fewer catastrophes! Granted, there are so many things at play in complex situations, a mere human may not be able to change entire outcomes. However, there are so many stupid decisions that contribute to ruin ... and that can be changed. That's why this book is so important.
Van Hecke presents 10 Blind Spots:
1. Not Stopping to Think
2. What You Don't Know Can Hurt You
3. Not Noticing
4. Not Seeing Yourself
5. My-side Bias
6. Trapped by Categories
7. Jumping to Conclusions
8. Fuzzy Evidence
9. Missing Hidden Causes
10. Missing the Big Picture
While listing the chapters may seem like the Cliff Notes, it would be a mistake to conclude that the list is the whole story. The author does a complete, substantiated and entertaing job of describing each blind spot and shows how prevalent (sadly) they are. This book is a great way to keep you grounded when the smart people around you are doing dumb things, and, of course, to prevent you from making the same mistakes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Offering scientific research on critical thinking which is actually fun to read
Comment: BLIND SPOTS: WHY SMART PEOPLE DO DUMB THINGS packs in examples, tactics and tips on how to understand the underlying meaning of simple blunders. Psychological probing reveals the underlying nature of jumping to conclusions and failing to think through challenges and issues, documenting exactly how smart people fail and offering scientific research on critical thinking which is actually fun to read, making it a pick for both college-level psychological libraries and general-interest collections.
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