Talking to Strangers

What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know

Using a mix of data and in-depth investigations around high profile human interactions, where human behaviour is interpreted terribly, we learn some very important lessons. As usual, Malcolm Gladwell deliveries these stories in a wonderful read.

My favourite takeaways

  • Defaulting to truth is OK. It is what created our society and it would be stupid to override this companionship generating trait.
  • The coupling of environment and action is so strong, that it should always be taken into account when interacting with strangers.
    • Don’t judge a stranger, judge their environment.
  • We are bad lie detectors. We expect a liar to act one way, and a truth teller another. Our snap decision lie detection is never to be trusted.
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