Out of Character: Surprising Truths About the Liar, Cheat, Sinner (and Saint) Lurking in All of Us

Good

Entertaining and interesting

The authors provide an interesting analysis of character and argue persuasively that none are immune to weakness. Their prime thesis is that "character" is not a fixed constant but rather a dynamic balance between short term and long term interests. These competing interests are compared to the fabled ant and grasshopper of Aesop fame and are oft unconscious calculations. The authors thus believe "character" is governed by momentary motivation and perception rather than strict objective rules for behavior.I enjoyed their narrative and agreed with much of what they said. They described interesting experiments showing how easily emotion and expectation swayed perception and decisions. I especially liked the chapter on bigotry, its association with anger, and the fact that all are vulnerable to it.However, I found the analysis a bit lacking. The book concludes: "Only once we accept that all our minds function along this same continuum and that we can all exhibit a range of `character types' can we begin to navigate our social world more effectively. Seeing that there is a thin line between the cowards and the heroes, the bigoted and the tolerant, the promiscuous and the chaste, the saints and the sinners, can help us better understand and cope with those all too frequent occasions when we, or those important to us, act `out of character.'"I agree with the foregoing statement to the extent that latent weakness resides in all of us (no matter how saintly we may appear). But if the above statement also means there is little qualitative difference between "good" and "bad" people, I disagree. To make an analogy, even "good drivers" from time to time make driving mistakes. But that's different from chronically dangerous drivers who wander across the center line all the time. Similarly, I see a big difference between basically good people who slip in a moment of weakness, and others who chronically exhibit anti-social behavior.I therefore felt the book was incomplete. The authors do a good job arguing, `Hey, look - everybody has weakness' (as if we didn't already know that). I wish they had provided extensive practical advice on how to improve the odds of doing the right thing. The final chapter has a few fleeting sentences on this topic but no depth. One glaring omission is the book never examines the phenomena of religion or 12 step programs (like AA) which have been used by thousands of people to overcome addictions. Granted, those programs don't work for everybody, but their success rate seems to be the best in the recovery industry. Overcoming addiction is basically a process of transforming character. What psychological principles make these programs work?

While there is nothing new about our basic internal conflicts about moral and ethical behaviour, the authors add many additional factors and nuances to the understanding of how we make decisions and how we act in social situations. Example: Sometimes when threatened we must decide between "fight or flight." Of course we will try to evaluate the specific conditions, such as the chances of winning the fight, the consequences of running away, etc. But the authors advise that more subtle, perhaps unrealized factors come into play as well, factors that prejudice our decisions in various ways. These factors may include our previous experience with the opponent, if any; whether the opponent "looks like us" or not; what other experiences we have had immediately before; what other sights, sounds, or distractions may be present at the moment; and many other factors. In short, the authors reveal that our decision-making processes are much more complex and nuanced than we realize. Their arguments are often based on lab experiments with human behaviour that are only briefly described and not always convincing. Nevertheless, their main theme rings true, and the book seems to offer useful material to readers seeking moral guidelines and better understanding of the behaviour of others.

So much can be said about how we perceive each other, and more importantly, ourselves. We cannot be dogmatic about a person, however long we may know them, nor however well we think we may know them. Actions can be perceived altogether wrong, and we must take care to be more understanding of others.

This book is an excellent introduction to human instinct (or biases) shaped by evolution. Author’s presentation of continuing battle between ant (long-term interest) and grasshopper (short-term gain) is quite clever. He goes on to specific cases such as, lust vs love, pride vs hubris, and compassion vs cruelty. Each chapter starts with a real world example, followed by a few studies on the subject. Having read a few books on behavioral psychology, I am aware of many of the material described in the book. There still are a few new things to be learned.