A conversation with a stranger. Why are we mistaken in people and trust the liars. Gladwell M.

Imagine yourself in the place of a judge who needs to decide whether to let the suspect on bail. You are offered either to simply familiarize yourself with the dry facts of the biography of the suspect, or meet and talk to him personally, look into the eyes and see the reaction. Many of us will choose the second option - because often we consider the information received with personal contact unusually valuable. But this is precisely in this, according to Malcolm Gladwell, that the cause of fatal errors, personal tragedies, incorrect court decisions and even a world -class catastrophe. Politicians who failed to recognize Hitler’s double game, which led the world to disaster. Police officers shooting innocent people, simply because their reactions seem suspicious to them. Parents who cannot recognize a rapist in a sports doctor corrupting their children. The author analyzes all these stories and comes to shocking conclusions.

It turns out that we are not able to recognize a liar, even when we communicate with him for a long time. And all our usual ideas about the suspicious behavior of people, their facial expressions, gestures, intonations are fundamentally wrong. Malcolm Gladwell invites us to go on an intellectual adventure on the dark side of human nature.

You will see that our idea of ​​strangers almost always does not coincide with reality, and the improper perception of their behavior can have catastrophic consequences.