27A - Reading Reflection No. 3

1)      What was the general theme or argument of the book?

·         The general argument or theme of the book is that most people speak the first answer that comes to mind rather than think logically or solve the issue at hand to come up with the proper solution. Basically, more people are confident within themselves by intuition rather than actual facts. This issue doesn’t only plague them in their personal life, but in all aspects of their lives, as they are unable to recognize they are wrong, and hold their thoughts to be true.

2)      How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

·         I believe that for the most part, many people took this class because they believed it would be easy. When I began to research this class, all of the reviews from individuals basically stated that this class was an easy A. Based on that information, I concluded for myself that it would be easy and that I would get an A, completely underestimating the possibility that I may not receive an A. Here I am at the end of the semester and I will not be getting an A, although I previously convinced myself I would without looking for further statistics about the class such as the class average to further solidify my reasoning. I basically proved the whole point of this book by that assumption alone.

 3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

·         I would create a question or design an image that would seem easy to answer or depict and basically single out all of the individuals who thought “fast or intuitively” vs.  “slow or statistically.” Examples in the book involve showing people “obvious” images or questions such as, “which item appears to be closer?” or “what year did Abraham Lincoln die?,” and see which individual takes the time to thoroughly process the question and answer correctly.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

·         I didn’t realize the book was going to involve a lot of research, statistics, and analytical thinking. This was actually the first book I wanted to read, but it wasn’t available at my local library until now. The book discusses many psychological or mental restraints that most people are unaware of. This is because we have subconsciously been exposed to may different situations or people in our lives, that the information kind of sits on the back burner until you are in a situation to think and use that information. My ‘aha’ moment was realizing these restraints in my own mind and applying the strategies used in the book to break those ill mental processes.