Why We Make Mistakes Book Summary - Why We Make Mistakes Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

Why We Make Mistakes summary

Joseph T. Hallinan

How We Look Without Seeing, Forget Things in Seconds, and Are All Pretty Sure We Are Way Above Average

4.3 (42 ratings)
22 mins

What is Why We Make Mistakes about?

Why We Make Mistakes is about the kinds of mistakes we commonly make, and the reasons behind them. With a broad focus encompassing neuroscience, psychology and economics, the book provides convincing explanations for our often fallible perception, our inability to recall simple data and the many biases that direct our decision making without us being aware.

Table of Contents

    Why We Make Mistakes
    summarized in 11 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 11

    Our view of the world is limited by our eyes and our minds.

    Before he became famous, Burt Reynolds entered a bar and noticed a broad-shouldered man harassing the patrons. Reynolds told the man to stop, but to no avail. Eventually Reynolds punched him, sending him flying through the air.

    That’s when Reynolds noticed that the man had no legs. How could he have not seen that?

    The world is incredibly complex: we’re constantly confronted with much more information than our brains can handle; plus, there are many different ways to look at every situation. 

    Part of the problem is that our field of vision is literally limited to 180 degrees, so at any given moment we see only half of what there is to see.

    But there’s also a psychological aspect to the problem: a scene will appear differently to one person than it will to another.

    For instance, when we observe an event, sometimes what we notice is determined by the person we identify with. When watching a male thief steal a woman’s purse, for example, men tend to focus on the thief while, in general, women focus on the female victim.

    Another way our view of the world is limited is our tendency to see only what we expect to see where we expect to see it. Which means we often fail to notice many, sometimes key, details.

    Even seasoned professionals are susceptible to this phenomenon. The “miss” rates are extremely high in professions that require people to look out for certain unusual objects – like tumors or bombs.

    For example, the number of flight passengers who attempt to smuggle firearms through security is only one in a million. As a result, baggage screeners simply don’t expect to find guns in passengers’ luggage and their screening process becomes lax, causing them to miss a quarter of all firearms.

    And that’s how it was possible for Burt Reynolds to miss the fact that the broad-shouldered bully had no legs: he simply couldn’t see what was right in front of his eyes.

    Want to see all full key ideas from Why We Make Mistakes?

    Key ideas in Why We Make Mistakes

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    About the Author

    Joseph Hallinan is a journalist and writer who wrote for the Wall Street Journal and won a Pulitzer Prize for his investigative reporting. Besides Why We Make Mistakes, Hallinan has also written the award-winning Going Up the River: Travels in Prison Nation and, most recently, Kidding Ourselves: The Hidden Powers of Self-Deception.

    Who should read Why We Make Mistakes?

    • Anyone eager to understand the mechanisms behind human error
    • Anyone who always wonders why they never find mistakes in their own work
    • Anyone who wants to know why they can’t seem to remember names, PINs or their own password

    Categories with Why We Make Mistakes

    Books like Why We Make Mistakes

    People ❤️ Blinkist
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked

    Start growing with Blinkist now
    26 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    91%
    Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
    *Based on survey data from Blinkist customers
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial