Madeleine L. Van Hecke

I bought "Blind Spots:Why Smart People Do Dumb Things" when I was smarting over a particularly stupid thing I had done. Dr. Van Hecke is upfront about this book being a "self-help book", but she uses a lot of actual psychological theory current a the time the book is written [2007]. The writing is clear. The examples fit the particular blind spot. And she does not spare herself in selecting those examples. There is an index, and a bibliography so that the reader has a chance to go beyond her theories and suggestions for change.

Dr. Van Hecke does not trivialize the difficulty of recognizing and correcting our blind spots nor limit the incidence of blind spots to individuals. She recognizes that looking past blind spots is difficult for companies and countries as well as it is for individuals.

This book helped me, even though I read it a decade after it was written.… (plus d'informations)

Unlike recent books like Willful Blindness by Margaret Heffernan, or even On Second Thought by Herbert Wrey, which discuss the concept of blind spots from the point of view of generalized heuristic principles (Wrey) or the implications for society of our choice to deliberately ignore things which make us uncomfortable (Heffernan), Van Hecke's book is deeply individualistic and personal - she's a clinical psychologist, and reading this is like chatting with your therapist during your weekly counseling session. If you want validation that "we're all special in our own unique way" you'll get it here; and while Van Hecke makes a stab at acknowledging that some intelligences really might be more important than others, she quickly dismisses the importance of that recognition for the individual by saying that 'we just need to acknowledge that someone without [choose your important ability] can't develop in that direction." The book is heavily weighted toward arguments of why her perspective is important to the development of positive esteem in children. If you need to feel good about yourself this book is for you!… (plus d'informations)