[Book Summary] Talking to Strangers—Malcolm Gladwell

Rating: ★★★★★

One of my mentors mentioned that he listens to audiobooks on his commute. So I decided to make this one of my 2022 New Year Resolutions.

I stopped by a Massachusetts Public Library branch near my apartment. A library card was granted that night. Considering the collections of the Massachusetts Public Library and the Boston Public Library, I sincerely doubt that you should subscribe to the Audible service.

The first book is Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell. I summarized some key points below.

• Default to Truth: If we don't do so, society can't function. You simply can't question everyone's intention and motive while interacting with them. You have to assume they're being honest though they're not in rare cases.
  
  
• Transparency: We've been told that people's intentions and feelings can be gauged through their postures and facial expressions. I vividly remember that there's a book written by a former CIA agent teaching how to analyze a person's response. 
  
  However, that's not the case. Take the most common example, how many people cheat in a relationship while pretending they're not?
  
  
• Coupling: In brief, what you do is influenced by where you do it. For example, drinking alcohol in a ritual way and in a fraternity party won't end in same the way. The latter is the Petri dish of campus sex assaults. 
  
  And a mind-blowing study, the access to a less painful way to commit suicide has a great impact on the suicide rate. Read on to the town gas example and the car exhaust example in the book to find out more.