(Did we tell you that “taking the day off” means helping the Editor with his storage issues! Some break!) Another item that caught our eye over the weekend was a review by Nancy Koehn of Margaret Heffernan’s Willful Blindness.

Writing in clear, flowing prose, she draws on psychological and neurological studies and interviews with executives, whistleblowers and white-collar criminals. She analyzes mechanisms that limit our vision — individually and collectively — and thus jeopardize our safety, economic well-being, moral grounding and emotional wholeness.

Love, ideology, fear and the impulse to obey and conform all play important roles in rendering us blind to the makings of personal tragedies and corporate collapses.

Information overload is also a big factor, especially in our technologically sophisticated age. Ms. Heffernan explains how multitasking and excessive stimulation, combined with exhaustion, restrict what we see and do.

Drop me a line at rjk@dailyblague.com
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 at 8:00 pm.