Gladwell/"What the Dog Saw"

Dogs follow humans. They need some kind of direction to function well. However, if the human is lacking direction, they cannot possibly hope to control a dog. Dogs see right through to our emotions. If they see that we are struggling, they’ll take advantage. Likewise, when we humans are unstable, other humans can usually tell, and that affects our judgment of a person. If someone is uncomfortable with something, we are less likely to want him or her to do that thing.

Gladwell argues that we need to try to understand each other by entering each other’s worlds. Only then can we learn what someone is really about. “Exercise, discipline and affection” are what we should, according to Gladwell, strive for in understanding others. An action is taken and it is either corrected or praised. We (should) raise children like this, and train animals like this. If we cannot do this, it is pretty much useless to attempt to communicate effectively with others.