Mistakes Were Made But Not By Me Analysis

In the book Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson analyses, explains, and elaborates the two essential and necessary aspects of making any decision. "The need to reduce dissonance is a universal mental mechanism, but that doesn't mean we are doomed to be controlled by it. Human beings may not be eager to change, but we have the ability to change, and the fact that many of our self-protective delusions and blind spots are built into the way the brain works is no justification for not trying... An appreciation of how dissonance works, in ourselves and others, gives us some ways to override our wiring. And protect us from those who can't." ( 222-223). Cognitive dissonance explains why we eat the leftover cake when …show more content…
For example, “In the case of Patrick Dunn of Bakersfield, California... the police chose to believe the uncorroborated account of a career criminal, which supported their theory that Dunn was guilty, rather than corroborated statements by an impartial witness, which would have exonerated him. This decision was unbelievable to the defendant, who asked his lawyer, Stan Simrin, “But don’t they want the truth?” “Yes,” Simrin said, “and they are convinced they have found it. They believe the truth is you are guilty. And now they will do whatever it takes to convict you.” (131) In the case of criminal prosecutors, they make the choice over someone’s life either sending them to prison, death, or freedom having to live with their interpretation of the truth.” In the cases of crimes that have roused public emotions, they are under enormous pressure to get a conviction quickly. Any doubts they might have are drowned in the satisfaction of feeling that they are representing the forces of good against a vile criminal.” (149) The decision to prosecute or not to prosecute is a key component to prosecution. In each case, a prosecutor must evaluate each variable or party, victim and suspected criminal, and assess the evidence to guarantee justice has been served. At the start, the prosecutor doesn’t accept all evidence provided by has to consider each piece is either helpful to the case or irrelevant. …show more content…
For example, “A man travels many miles to consult the wisest guru in the land. When he arrives, he asks the wise man: :Oh, wise guru, what is the secret of a happy life?” “Good judgment,” says the guru. “But oh, wise guru,” says the man, “how do i achieve good judgment?” “Bad judgment,” says the guru” (213) When we make mistakes it is usually hard to admit them. The book points out the problem of our mistake-phobic and narcissistic culture today. We have a hard time separating the sin from the sinner. When people make mistakes we usually blame the person rather than weighing the circumstances. This is also known as a fundamental attribution error where people tend to emphasize and criticize a person’s mistake due to their characteristics, personality, or judgment rather than external situations. The mistake is what we did and is not what defines us. The first step in admitting your mistakes is forgiveness. In addition, chapter two starts out with this quote: “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3 (40). We too often blame and harass other people for their mistakes and errors when we overlook our own. Instead of laughing at others misfortune and errors we should humble ourselves and reflect, grow and learn from our mistakes. The book contains two great quotes that embody the whole moral of making mistakes: “A great nation is