How we know what
isn’t so by Thomas Gilovich is a book that make you look at the world in a
different light. What you though your beliefs in certain aspect of life are
really not as they seem. We as humans will still believe in them even despite
evidence of the contrary. We try to make sense of the overwhelming amount of
information that is always changing in the world so we develop our own biases
and stereotypes. We think this will help, but in reality it distorts what is
right in front of us. Gilovich discuses topics of psychological powers, new age
medicine and the belief in the effectiveness of questionable interpersonal
strategies.
On phenomenon that is discussed is
self-handicapping. This is “ our attempts to manage how others perceive us by
controlling the attributions they make for our performance.”(Gilovich, 1991) I
found this very interesting. I have done this to my self when having a bad
day. Putting blame on outside sources to
justify how I may not be performing at my best. To me this is a self-coping
mechanism to boost my own moral or to make sure others don’t think badly of me.
I never thought about this process until now. After reading this book I will
think more carefully on the conclusion I draw and the assumption I make about
different situation that happen in world around me.
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