Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

2020, book 21: “Truth default: You believe someone not because you don’t have doubt but because you don’t have ENOUGH doubt.” — Malcolm Gladwell

Finished on March 31, 2020

Malcolm Gladwell is one of the best authors that I’ve spent time studying. He’s always on point with the data and spends extensive time diving into the deeper meanings of the subjects that are studied. I’ve worked through a handful of his other books so when I saw that this one was released I knew I had to add it to the list.

I’m actually studying something similar about human behavior and conflict within Francis Fukuyama’s book The Origins of Political Order. The chapter I recently completed was about chimpanzees and humans and the ways that they approach conflict and gaining territory.

Throughout the majority of history, encounters — hostile or otherwise — were rarely between strangers. The people you met and fought often believed in the same God as you, built their buildings, and organized their cities in the same way you did. The 16th century’s bloodiest conflict, when the Spaniards arrived in Mexico in 1519, they knew nothing about the Aztecs. The Spanish were in awe. The cities were architecturally incredible and the city was…