A Making It Personal 187
C H A P T E R 7
187
Making It Personal:
A in R.E.A.D.
I have asked you to suspend your powerful brain and
take in data similar to how a child would observe raw data
without making judgments. I have also asked you to look for
similarities and differences between people so you could begin
to understand what is normal within a given culture or demo-
graphic. That’s the “R.” In this process of review, you taught
yourself the second piece: evaluate, that is, look for the
meaning of actions. You have also seen how your preconceived
notions can filter what you are seeing, or even blind you.
Undoubtedly, you have begun to place people on bell
curves to organize your perceptions. This is human nature,
but it is difficult to research the chimps when you are one of
them. You need a couple of other tools to help you under-
stand exactly what this all means; namely, the individual’s
norm and context. These tools will help you to complete that