Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
Here are a few key points:

1. Default to Truth
How does this relate to Sandra Bland?
Gladwell explains that cops do not “default to truth” in their interactions. Instead, their training encourages them to suspect everyone, which contrasts with the general human tendency to trust others by default.

2. Body Language and Assumptions
Gladwell discusses the Amanda Knox case and other situations to highlight how we often have preconceived ideas about how people “should” behave in certain circumstances.
These expectations can lead to incorrect judgments. We tend to overestimate our ability to assess someone’s character or intent just by observing their behavior.

3. Limits of Human Judgment
Even trained professionals are not as adept at judging character as we might believe.
For example, Gladwell references a study involving judges who had to decide whether to grant bail to defendants. When their decisions were compared to those made by an artificial intelligence program that relied purely on data, the judges’ performance was significantly worse.
This demonstrates that humans are often poor judges of character, especially when making decisions based on limited information.

4. The Importance of Context
Gladwell emphasizes that we frequently fail to consider the context or environment when interpreting behavior.

Original draft written in June 2020