Very interesting column by David Brooks
I generally don’t think much of David Brooks, but this column is quite good. I found it via this post by Jonah Lehrer. Both are worth reading, and Jonah links to this New Yorker article that he wrote. Read ‘em all. The conclusion to his post:
So if personality is so context-dependent, then why do we believe so fiercely in the constancy of character? Why does everyone know their Myers-Briggs score? The answer returns us to the biased brain, and a mental flaw known as the fundamental attribution error. It turns out that when we evaluate the behavior of others we naturally overemphasize the role of personality – we assume people are always aggressive or always dishonest or always sarcastic – and undervalue the role of context and the pervasive influence of situations. Nobody, it turns out, is always anything.
