The authors provide an interesting analysis of character and argue persuasively that none are immune to weakness. Their prime thesis is that "character" is not a fixed constant but rather a dynamic balance between short term and long term interests. These competing interests are compared to the fabled ant and grasshopper of Aesop fame and are oft unconscious calculations. The authors thus believe "character" is governed by momentary motivation and perception rather than strict objective rules for behavior.
I enjoyed their narrative and agreed with much of what they said. They described interesting experiments showing how easily emotion and expectation swayed perception and decisions. I especially liked the chapter on bigotry, its association with anger, and the fact that all are vulnerable to it.
However, I found the analysis a bit lacking. The book concludes: "Only once we accept that all our minds function along this same continuum and that we can all exhibit a range of `character types' can we begin to navigate our social world more effectively. Seeing that there is a thin line between the cowards and the heroes, the bigoted and the tolerant, the promiscuous and the chaste, the saints and the sinners, can help us better understand and cope with those all too frequent occasions when we, or those important to us, act `out of character.'"
I agree with the foregoing statement to the extent that latent weakness resides in all of us (no matter how saintly we may appear). But if the above statement also means there is little qualitative difference between "good" and "bad" people, I disagree. To make an analogy, even "good drivers" from time to time make driving mistakes. But that's different from chronically dangerous drivers who wander across the center line all the time. Similarly, I see a big difference between basically good people who slip in a moment of weakness, and others who chronically exhibit anti-social behavior.
I therefore felt the book was incomplete. The authors do a good job arguing, `Hey, look - everybody has weakness' (as if we didn't already know that). I wish they had provided extensive practical advice on how to improve the odds of doing the right thing. The final chapter has a few fleeting sentences on this topic but no depth. One glaring omission is the book never examines the phenomena of religion or 12 step programs (like AA) which have been used by thousands of people to overcome addictions. Granted, those programs don't work for everybody, but their success rate seems to be the best in the recovery industry. Overcoming addiction is basically a process of transforming character. What psychological principles make these programs work?
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