Book Reading #44: Why We Make Mistakes

Chapter 4
Summary
Chapter 4 discusses how we tend to remember our actions with rose-colored glasses. When remembering things that we do and say, we tend to make ourselves sound better than we actually were/are. Hallinan presents several examples: students remembering their grades as being better than they were and remembering good grades more than the bad grades, the Watergate scandal and how John Dean remembered the events entirely differently than how they really went down (proven through tape recordings) and how gamblers remember their wins and how losses are near-wins in their eyes.

Discussion
I’m really enjoying this book because he backs up his explanations with so many interesting examples. I also love learning how the mind works. He pointed out in one of the chapters that even with the knowledge gained in this book, we don’t often learn to act/think differently as a result of the learning. While I think that’s true in some cases, I also think this knowledge will help us analyze our mistakes after the fact in all cases and help us understand other people’s mistakes better.

Chapter 5
Summary
In chapter 5 Hallinan explores the idea of multitasking and how we don’t actually do it. He discusses how multitasking slows us down, can cause us to forget what we are doing and creates a need for downtime, the time it takes to refocus on a task. The author provides examples of a pilot, a bus driver and drivers in general who do other tasks (like texting, talking on the phone or fiddling with a GPS) while driving.

He explores in depth the car and the many distractions being created to “aid” us distract us and how drivers need downtime when switching between tasks while driving.

Discussion
I really enjoyed Hallinan’s discussion on multitasking and the explanation as to why and how it is impossible for the brain to truly multitask. I also liked the lengthy discussion related to vehicles and distractions behind the wheel. Hallinan is able to explain so much through all these studies and real-world examples.