The Halo Effect

Hidden Brain

Hidden Brain Media

Arts, Science, Performing Arts, Social Sciences

4.6 • 40.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2021

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1978, Judy, Lyn and Donna Ulrich were driving to a volleyball game when their Ford Pinto was hit from behind by a van. The Pinto caught fire, and the three teenagers died. This week, we revisit a 2020 episode with a former Ford insider who played a key role in weighing the risks associated with the Pinto. And we consider what his story tells us about a question we all face: is it possible to fairly evaluate our past actions when we know how things turned out? If you like our work, please consider supporting it! See how you can help at support.hiddenbrain.org. And to learn more about human behavior and ideas that can improve your life, subscribe to our newsletter atnews.hiddenbrain.org.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedanta.
0:05.0	It's a summer evening in Northern Indiana.
0:08.0	Three teenagers are in their car, headed to a church-sponsored volleyball game.
0:15.0	It's 1978.
0:17.0	The three Ulrich girls, sisters Judy and Lynn and their cousin Donna, drive down US-33
0:23.0	in a Ford Pinter.
0:25.0	Judy is behind the wheel.
0:27.0	She's 18, a recent high school graduate.
0:30.0	Two years older than her little sister Lynn.
0:34.0	Donna is also 18.
0:37.0	Around 6'30", Judy slows down.
0:40.0	She's worried she might have left the cap to the gas tank on the trunk.
0:45.0	She puts on her hazard lights.
0:48.0	A few seconds behind the Pinto on the same road, Roger Dugger is driving a Chevy van.
0:55.0	He's looking for a cigarette pack on the floor.
0:58.0	When he looks up, the slowing Pinto is right in front of him.
1:03.0	He's going about 50 miles per hour, and he doesn't have time to stop.
1:12.0	At first, Roger doesn't think the crash is that bad.
1:16.0	Then, he smells gasoline.
1:19.0	Later, reporters will recount testimony from a third driver who saw what happened.
1:24.0	There was a puff of flame about 12-18 inches long at the rear of the car.
1:31.0	Almost immediately, the Pinto explodes into flames.
	...

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