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Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)
- Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts
- Narrated by: Marsha Mercant, Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Health & Wellness, Psychology & Mental Health
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Summary
Why do people dodge responsibility when things fall apart? Why the parade of public figures unable to own up when they screw up? Why the endless marital quarrels over who is right? Why can we see hypocrisy in others but not in ourselves? Are we all liars? Or do we really believe the stories we tell? Backed by years of research and delivered in lively, energetic prose, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) offers a fascinating explanation of self-deception - how it works, the harm it can cause, and how we can overcome it.
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- Matthew L
- 30-12-17
A life changing book, everyone should read it
I heard a recommendation of this by Alexi Sayle on British radio and was intrigued. It was a revelation, and has been a huge help in coming to terms with my own faults and mistakes, both at work and at home. I am now willing to accept criticism where I know I am wrong and more aware of my self justifying behaviour.
16 people found this helpful
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- D. J. Craig
- 27-07-18
Dissonance, blind spots and stereotypes
This book critically looks at techniques and professions that do not hold people accountable for their actions and things that cannot be proved from some “experts”. Although the field of psychology discussed is ever developing, not enough has been found out to understand the mind. This gives dissonance, a justification to why you have done something wrong and resentment to agree with your failures or see them. Great examples are used in the book with clear detailed methods of how to avoid this in your own life. The origin to this cognitive distinction is discussed and alternative cultures views to the idea of dissonance. Great book and throughly enjoyable and educational.
8 people found this helpful
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- Richard D
- 09-09-15
Interesting but Repetitive
I found the core concept of the book and the conclusion very interesting and I enjoyed the peformance. Unfortunately I found the middle of the book very repetitive with the same information recalled in different ways and scenarios. Whilst I'm sure this was the point (to show the concepts held up and in different situations) I started to lose interest and was glad when I got to the end. Overall I think it was good but I have heard better. It could benefit from some editing. 3* from me.
7 people found this helpful
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- Eoin
- 18-06-15
essential reading for humans
In here somewhere is accountability and forgiveness occupying the same space. Informative and enlightening by any standard.
5 people found this helpful
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- David Kinsella
- 18-07-18
Female Narrator Sounds Like a Robot
imagine listening to Google Maps for 9 hours. That describes this narrator's attempt. Great book, but now I remember why I gave up on this audiobook 18 months ago. But I will battle on this time.
4 people found this helpful
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- G. M. J. Langan
- 18-12-17
Necessary reading.
For me this book highlights the importance of taking personal responsability for our own actions. It encourages us to avoid blaming and shaming others and instead look at our part in the deed. The writers ask us to allow ourselves to make mistakes and learn from them. Well written and researched.
4 people found this helpful
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- Bruce
- 12-01-18
unflinching exploration of cognitive dissonance
I found this an engagingly performed, wide ranging investigation into the destructive effects of self-justification.
3 people found this helpful
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- DaveW
- 28-11-15
Enjoyable
This is a very easy listen.
The core science was a rather minor portion at the beginning and after this came extensive examples where cognitive dissonance kept people wrong.
I'd have given it a 5, but there was a clear weighting in the examples of poor thought towards the liberal academic perspective (e.g. Dodgy policing). I'd have respected the book more if she had highlight topics less fashionable, like the West's guilt culture and resultant denial.
3 people found this helpful
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- Nigel
- 16-09-11
No mistake was made buying this book
One of the best books on psychology I've ever heard. Fascinating, illuminating, funny and useful throughout
3 people found this helpful
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- Laurie
- 27-01-22
This deserves a review - Highly insightful
Maybe it’s because I love books about how we (our brains) process information which, after reading this book, maybe seen as a bias towards wanting to enjoy the book for the off? Its opened up a whole world of questions and understandings.
Every part of the book is intriguing, engaging and explains the inner workings of our thought processes and it’s potential origins and outcomes.
The summary about how we can inadvertently teach and portray failure as stupidity really hits home, especially when raising a small child. I’d love for all teachers to have a fuller understanding of these methods and teachings.
A book that can be recommended to anyone and should be read by everyone willing to accept their faults, help others and themselves in more ways than one.
2 people found this helpful
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- Anand
- 11-11-12
Excellent insights, but a little too long
This book has a lot to offer. I feel that many things will be better in the world if people were aware of what the book says. That being said, I feel that the book could have been shortened and some of the later chapters could be omitted. Also, the book started off on solid ground with all claims being backed by experiments, but later made some far-fetched claims where the authors didn't hold up to the high standards of proof they setup up in the early chapters.
The first 3 chapters were excellent. The authors clearly explain how self-justification works and lay out cognitive dissonance theory. In chapter 3, they go in-depth into how memories can be wrong and how they play into what we want to believe. This was quite a revelation to me how ordinary people could be so wrong about what they remember. I would now be more careful when recalling old memories. They use the pyramid analogy very well in explaining how opinions form and how they harden as you justify them and base more decisions on them, and why it is a good idea not to be too fixed on any opinion or ideology.
The fourth chapter was a good listen. The authors discuss how "recovered memories" proved wrong and how social workers and clinicians with good intentions ended up causing people to "remember" childhood abuse, leading to false accusations and broken families. The authors explain what constitutes proper science, and how individuals, professionals and experts can be completely wrong about something because they haven't examined it critically or scientifically. They give an example of psychotherapy and how psychology clinicians (not scientists) have often caused more harm than good to their patients. Self-justification comes in the way of making people correct themselves, therefore causing more harm. The fifth chapter is about wrongful convictions, and how prosecutors deal with the dissonance of being wrong and sending innocent people to jail. Self-justification comes into play here too. "I sent someone to jail. Therefore, he must be guilty"
In my opinion, chapter 6 made too strong a claim - Relationships and marriages are ruined by self-justification - without proper backup. The authors don't examine whether self-justification is a cause or merely a symptom of a troubled marriage. It did bother me that for all the talk about doing proper science, the authors throw all of that to the wind and expound on their opinions in this chapter. Chapter 7 talks about larger issues such as conflicts between nations and groups. Although it was interesting information, I am not sure whether it should have been included in this book. Again, this chapter was far from scientific, and only offers the example of post-apartheid reconciliation in South Africa as to how things can be done differently.
Finally, chapter 8 was meant to give practical advice. They do talk about how, in America, people don't own up to mistakes because they are afraid to look stupid. To me, apart from that, it was a lot of preaching, exhorting the reader/listener to own up to his/her mistakes. Personally, as someone who has a tendency to justify my actions, I felt this was a black-white approach, without looking at the grey area. For instance, there are two negative consequences of self-justification - 1) you make a bad situation worse by not being amenable to change (continuing to pour money into a bad investment, continuing to hurt somebody). 2) You don't mend relationships or come clean to yourself and others. If you admit your mistake to yourself (without saying it to others or in public), you at least fix problem 1, which is the more important problem in my opinion.
If you are considering this book, you will likely enjoy it. Nevertheless, be prepared to be taken out of your comfort zone, and exposed to common failings you are likely making. I haven't read any similar books and can't comment on what is new or different in this book
69 people found this helpful
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- serine
- 03-02-16
Analytical Sledgehammer! A+
I have dubbed this book, 'The Analytical Sledgehammer.'
Mistakes Were Made has become one of my favorite books of all time. It should be required reading for every human being. At its heart, this book examines everything humans believe about their own selves and the world at large. How have we come to believe what we do about ourselves, the people we love, & those we punish? Where did ideas of fairness come from. Why is it so hard to admit fault? What does it all mean on a personal and societal level?
This book will appeal to anyone with a human brain. The studies used in the book are sound and the authors take a wonderfully critically approach to everything they present. If you are capable of even the tiniest bit of self-reflection, this book will delight you in ways you never imagined. Each page will force you to ask if you really know yourself at all.
You might have read books about heuristics, but this book is more accessible than Kahneman's book (thought Kahneman will give you a more thorough education about various heuristics) and is more entertaining and empirically sound that You Are Not So Smart by McRaney.
13 people found this helpful
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- Robert S.
- 05-09-10
A Great Listen - As Long As You Listen
A fascinating discussion of cognitive dissonanance, something that affects every single one of us; not only the people we disagree with. I'm sure that this book will confirm your prejudices if listened to casually but if listened to with as an open a mind as you can muster it will cause you to begin to re-evaluate your own memories, beliefs and relationship with the 'truth'. A wonderful opportunity to 'look in the mirror'.
36 people found this helpful
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- Andrew A. Barzyk
- 22-10-10
Insightful study of human behavior
The book is a bit dry, but knowledge is not always entertaining. It's a bit complex, so unlike the human being... It is definitely a worthwhile read and is credible science, unlike most of the over-simplified dribble that is presented as science today. One must approach this book with an open mind, a love for psychology, and strive to better understand the complex human condition -- one's own condition. If you harp on the details of who the authors picked as examples, you've missed the point. If you are looking for a political slant, bashing of belief in UFOs (of the intergalactic kind), or even probably religion, (since you are looking) you will find it. We are all creatures of our time, we have dispositions, views, and preferences. This book, if you read it not looking for your own agenda, is an excelling insight into how we make decisions and live with (and explain away) their convergences. I myself am guilty... oh and BTW: this download is only part I, can't seem to find part II...
42 people found this helpful
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- Michael Rogers
- 01-02-11
Psychology book with practical advice
I was disappointed it was extremely similar to the Social Animal which I had already read and that it didn't go into as much scientific detail as the Social Animal (I can be real nerdy-most people will probably prefer this version to the textbook The Social Animal). But despite these small dislikes I was very impressed with information and particularly the fact the book gave practical advice about to apply the book's concepts to everyday life.
23 people found this helpful
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- A. Yoshida
- 07-12-13
Everyone makes mistakes
The title of the book gives the impression that it's a self-help book. It's more of a psychology book explaining how people can make mistakes, think they are right, and honestly believe that. A good example is false memories. How often have you said, "I could have sworn I did that." You see the event in your head, yet evidence shows it didn't happen. You rationalize it ("someone must have moved it") instead of accept the most obvious answer ("I was mistaken in thinking that I did it").
The books goes even further into big mistakes that people make and refuse to admit, such as in the criminal system where suspects are locked away for years ("I know he's the rapist so I'll interrogate him for hours until he finally confesses") until DNA finally proves their innocence. Fortunately for most people, they are not making mistakes that means life and death. The book contains many extreme examples. Still, this is great book to read to understand and recognize your own mistakes. For example, maybe a friend asked for a favor and you said no. Initially you felt a little guilty for saying no. Then you start justifying the answer, "She wouldn't have helped me if I had asked for a favor. She's always looking for someone to do her work." So that guilty feeling goes away. It's a rude awakening to realize how your feelings have completely changed -- you went from feeling a little guilty to thinking your friend is selfish and lazy.
33 people found this helpful
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- Faye
- 01-03-19
Hoping for substance
I read a lot of books of this sort, and I am definitely interested in the subject matter - but the writing just feels like it is lacking substance compared to the works I’ve deeply benefited from. The book bounces from story to story trying to demonstrate the ideas, but doesn’t focus enough on really driving home any of those ideas. Just goes on to another “This one time, Joe knee a guy who...” example to prove the stance. I only made it 4 hours in - but I’m done. Little value-added, and I didn’t particularly enjoy the narration either.
5 people found this helpful
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- Russell
- 18-07-15
We All Make Mistakes It's How We Handle Them After
This book helped me back away from an argument where someone needed to justify their actions. I realized they were emotionally invested in what they did and a logical discussion of it was going to be rejected. It saved me some frustration and that was okay because the episode was a minor one. If that was all I took from this book then it would have failed.
The key is (But Not By Me). We really need to examine how we can convince ourselves our bad decision was a good one when actually it wasn't. We are predisposed to rationalize our actions and sometimes this hurts others and more importantly sometimes this hurts ourselves.
I rarely stop listening to a book on a long walk, but for this one after a chapter that inspired a eureka moment I had to. It wouldn't do to hear the next chapter when I needed to work out some things inspired by what I had just heard.
I liked the scientific approach in discussing how mistakes were made and the part that resonated the most was the repressed memory fad in the 1990's. A lot of people were harmed by that and a lot of experts who did not adhere to the scientific method compounded that damage. I was most impressed with the one repressed memory expert who parted company with her contemporaries and admitted mistakes. After reading this book, I want to emulate that courageous lady.
5 people found this helpful
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- Ryan
- 05-02-15
Best explanation I've seem of cognitive dissonance
This work had many great anecdotes to explain how rampant self justification is amongst people. Almost all the logic in this book followed well for me.
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- Catherine J. Pondozzi
- 04-11-12
This book is priecless for saving time & energy
Although this book reads like a pschological text book it is no less facsinating in scope. It explains the phenomena of justifying ones actions in such a way that will free up a person from wasting their time arguing with others & give a real insight into why this happens to just about everyone. Like pshycholigist know so well, much of what we do is based on learned information. Having this kind of insight can only be of the highest help in dealing with others & with ourselves too. Praise, praise, praise for the educational value this book gives.
4 people found this helpful