From the Bookshelf of Albany Public Library…

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know

Malcolm Gladwell

Discussion: 2020 Summer Reading Challenge

Why we're reading this: Week 1: Get Outside and Read Audiobook pick
[close] Week 1: Get Outside and Read Audiobook pick

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 13 topics — 411 comments total

2020 Summer Reading Challenge

This topic has been closed to new comments.

2020 SRC: Week 10 Popularity Contest (Final Week!)
By Alexandra · 13 posts · 23 views

last updated Sep 02, 2020 07:38AM

2020 SRC: Wrap Up Week
By Kate · 1 post · 11 views

last updated Sep 01, 2020 08:55AM

What Members Thought

Dec 16, 2019 Alicia rated it liked it

Shelves: adult, politics-justice, historical, nonfiction, social-pysch

So I'm a tad disappointed because the book suffers from a bit of disorganization- unintentionally for how I'd like to read my book. He always circles back around as he addresses different elements like the default to truth, transparency, and more. I followed but not in the way I'd put together a puzzle.

There were a number of stories that are both super famous and others that aren't so much to make his point include some very vivid first-hand accounting/transcripts from molestation cases of Nass ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 26, 2019 Jonathan Karmel rated it liked it

Gladwell's books are always interesting, and this one was no exception.

According to this book, we often have misunderstandings when we talk to strangers. We assume people are being truthful, and that we can detect when someone is lying by their demeanor. In fact, we're terrible at detecting lies in the many cases when people tell lies with a normal demeanor, and we often think someone is lying if they are telling the truth but acting strange. Detecting fraud using objective means is much more ef Gladwell's books are always interesting, and this one was no exception.

According to this book, we often have misunderstandings when we talk to strangers. We assume people are being truthful, and that we can detect when someone is lying by their demeanor. In fact, we're terrible at detecting lies in the many cases when people tell lies with a normal demeanor, and we often think someone is lying if they are telling the truth but acting strange. Detecting fraud using objective means is much more effective than using our gut sense about when we're being conned. Harry Markopolos is an example of someone who used objective means to figure out that Bernie Madoff was a fraud. Unlike others, he didn't "default to truth" when dealing with Madoff, who didn't "act like" he was committing fraud. Conversely, Amanda Knox spent four years in jail after being falsely accused of killing her roommate. She was innocent, but she didn't act in an expected manner after her roommate was killed. The guilty perpetrate crimes, and the innocent are convicted. We think people are "transparent" when they are telling the truth or lying, but in fact, they are not.

The chapter about drinking and sexual assault was typical Gladwell. He comes to some possibly controversial conclusions based on an interesting analysis. According to this book, when people drink they become "myopic," only thinking about what they want in the short term and ignoring the long term consequences. Also, when people get completely drunk, which is frequently, they blackout. Apparently, blacking out is indiscriminate. Really drunk people simply cannot remember certain things that happened, regardless of whether what happened is mundane or something incredibly disturbing. In addition, one cannot always tell when people are blacking out (in a state where they are out of control and will not remember what they have done). The combination of all of these aspects of the effects of alcohol is that people are bound to have sex without consent when both people are completely drunk. I think Gladwell is careful not to "blame the victim" when he concludes that it is simply a fact that heavy drinking greatly increases the chances of a person getting raped.

A stranger's behavior is tightly connected to place and context, a concept which Gladwell calls "coupling." It is easier to commit suicide by sticking your head in an oven heated by town gas (which has a lot of carbon monoxide as a byproduct) than by sticking your head in an oven heated by natural gas. When England switched from town gas to natural gas, suicide rates went way down. Likewise, people used to kill themselves specifically by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, and when physical barriers were put up to prevent this, suicide rates went down. It's not true that people will necessarily just find a different way of killing themselves when the "usual way" is not available.

Crime also happens in particular places at particular times of day. One of the reasons policing has greatly improved in recent decades is that law enforcement has used data about the specific places and times where and when crime is happening and has very aggressively policed those places at those times. This strategy is accepted by law abiding citizens in the places that have extremely high crime rates. On the other hand, extremely aggressive policing in places that have low crime rates or during the daytime when there is little crime can backfire horribly. Blackwell uses the case of Sandra Bland, who was arrested during a pretextual traffic stop and ended up committing suicide in jail.

I love the way Gladwell garners evidence to reach unconventional and non-intuitive conclusions. He may not always be correct, but his ideas are always a lot of food for thought. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 07, 2020 JFN rated it it was ok · review of another edition

All of this book was thought-provoking; portions of it were excellent (the Standford sexual assault case in particular and the effects on alcohol on behavior). But I felt it fell into the category of a wildly successful, established writer getting a lighter tough from editors than they needed on a project. Parts of this book felt like they didn't belong, were jammed in there. I also was bewildered by Gladwell's repeated assertion throughout the book that, by default, people should be naturally f ...more

Like · see review

Dec 03, 2020 Kristen M. rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction, research, audiobook-version, cultural-criticism

This audiobook version was highly recommended. However, after enjoying previous Gladwell titles; this one fell flat. It suffers from a clear issue with the title - in that each chapter seems to be entirely disparate from other chapters.

Gladwell covers a lot of ground in this book with the concept of 'default to truth'. He features details about Sandra Bland, Bernie Madoff, Larry Nasser, Amanda Knox, Jerry Sandusky, Cuban spies, Khaled Sheikh Mohamed and military torture strategies, Sylvia Plath ...more

Like · see review