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Book Review: Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
“Defaulting to Truth” and How it Can Negatively Affect Society
What do Adolf Hitler, Larry Sandusky, a Cuban Spy, Amanda Knox, Bernie Maddoff, Sylvia Plath, Sarah Bland, and the tv show Friends have in common?
According to Malcolm Gladwell’s most recent book — Talking to Strangers — they were all products of society’s habit of ‘defaulting to truth.’
The premise?
Human beings are so physically ingrained with trusting strangers that even when presented with situations out of the norm, we still choose to trust our instincts — rather than what we actually observe.
Hitler’s Handshake
Neville Chamberlain, a British prime minister, met Adolf Hitler three times before the start of WWII. These meetings convinced him of Hitler’s modest intentions to stop his advancement after taking over only the German-speaking portion of Chezkloslovakia.
Why did Chamberlain go against most of his advisors and his own previous feelings? Because Hitler gave him a special double handshake he reserved only for the most friendly of meetings. A sign that Hitler was being genuine with his promises — at least to Neville Chamberlain.
