How To Make Amends

Hidden Brain

Hidden Brain Media

Arts, Science, Performing Arts, Social Sciences

4.6 • 40.4K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2023

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When James and Donovan first met, they knew little about each other, except that Donovan had stolen James' bike. Donovan got caught, and spent a month in jail. It was a story with a happy ending, as far as James was concerned. But then he found out, nearly a decade later, what happened to Donovan after his conviction. This week on the show, we look at the unexpected aftermath of a crime, and what happens when adversaries meet in conversation instead of a courtroom.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Hidden Brain.
0:02.6	I'm Shankar Vedantam.
0:05.3	All of us form quick impressions of the strangers we meet.
0:09.8	We do this automatically and unconsciously and we do this all the time.
0:15.6	We categorize people into nice and not so nice, friendly and unhelpful.
0:22.7	Much of the time these quick conclusions are partly true and partly exaggerated.
0:28.6	And they are caricatures of people we barely know.
0:34.1	Our tendency to draw quick conclusions is especially powerful when the strangers we encounter do
0:40.3	something to hurt us.
0:43.2	Think about the last time someone stepped on your foot as you were leaving a crowded theater
0:48.0	or the time a motorist nearly hit you as you were crossing a pedestrian intersection
0:54.2	or when someone stole something from you.
0:57.9	At such times we can't help but imagine how terrible this person must be when they are
1:02.6	not stepping on our toes or being a reckless driver or being a thief.
1:13.0	Today on the program an unusual story about two strangers who first met as adversaries.
1:19.8	Like all of us they came to quick conclusions about each other.
1:23.7	But then nearly a decade later each man had the opportunity to pull the curtain back
1:30.0	on the other's life.
1:34.1	How the simple act of conversation can transform the way we see each other.
1:39.3	This week on Hidden Brain.
1:53.0	James Carter still remembers the bike.
1:55.9	It was a Trek 7.3 FX in blue with Fender's a toe hitch and a bike bump and a water bottle
	...

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