When we go about our daily lives there are many things that go undetected. One such undetected event goes on inside our own head. Thinking without thinking, an idea brought forth in Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, where your brain is processing information that you aren't even aware of yet. Some of the best outcomes are produced from this “idea”. Another huge topic in this novel is the idea of “thin slicing”. Where your brain can come to a conclusion within seconds of analyzing the situation. Thin slicing is proven in this book to be more resourceful than putting any length of thought into a situation. But in order for Gladwell to drive home his ideas, he is going to need the help of some psychologists tests to prove that he is right.
One of the first ideas of the mind that Malcolm Gladwell introduces to the reader is the idea of Priming. Priming refers to when subtle triggers influence our behavior without our awareness of such changes. Gladwell uses real life events to really put his theories out there, and they work. An
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example of this occurs in Spain where authorities introduced classical music on the subway and after doing so, watched vandalism and littering drastically decrease. But along with priming there are controversial ways of using it. Should we introduce priming in schools to encourage better behavior or more diligent work patterns? “Would this be classified as brainwashing?” (55). Even if it isn't bad ideas being primed. Or rather If an individual’s behavior is being influenced unbeknownst to them, when can priming become manipulative? Im sure other parts of the world already do this, but is it ethically right? Marriage is the combined vows of 2 people, but before people just get married there is a process. Usually involving much time spent with the individual in order to get to know them and eventually start living with them. “But a psychologist by the name of John Gottman could predict with a 95% accuracy whether a couple will be together in 15 years just by watching an hour of their interaction” (Hamm). In order to do this he had to use “thin slicing”. Where our unconscious is able to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience. Gottman used a program called Automated Facial Action Coding System. The system automatically tracks faces in a video, extracts geometric and texture features, and produces profiles of each facial muscle movement. Each movement is assigned a number and is used to put together a statistic ranging between 0% and 100% compatibility. Another “thin slicing” extravaganza in Blink is when Malcolm talks about the Pepsi Challenge.
But this “thin slicing” is in the form of a “sip test”. The Pepsi Challenge was a series of soft drink taste-tests that seemed to conclusively prove that Americans liked Pepsi more than Coke. These soda contests made Pepsi a serious contender for the first time, and left Coca-Cola scratching its head. Gladwell however, presents evidence that Pepsi’s overwhelming success over Coca-Cola in these tests was not evidence of a real preference, but rather a result of the flawed nature of the “sip test” method itself. “His research shows that when offered a quick sip, tasters generally prefer the sweeter of two beverages – even if they prefer a less sweet beverage over the course of an entire can” (Choosing Speakers). Just because a taster prefers a single sip of the sweeter beverage, Gladwell argues, doesn’t mean he’d prefer to have an entire case of it at
home. Now to steer away from thin slicing. Another concept of the mind in this book, rapid cognition. Can one ever really prepare for decisive, rapid-fire scenarios? If improv comedy is governed by rules and requires practice like any other sport, could anyone be a stand-up comic or performer? These are just a few questions worth giving thought in this book. The United States Joint Forces Command tested rapid cognition back in 2002 with a military simulation exercise where the military could “...foster an operational, decision-making culture in the defense of our nation by exploring the threats of tomorrow today” (USJFCOM). A soldier was put into tense situations and did work accordingly. Passing the simulation with unexpected astounding results. But when the same soldier was put into less rigorous situations, there was no sign of rapid cognition. The USJFC came to the conclusion that rapid cognition is functional, but not cultivable. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is most definitely a worthy read. This book demonstrates to the reader, the unexplainable things that go on in our mind. It even gives little tests within the reading which, when I took them I was lead right into an explanations as to why I thought the way I did. This book explains why you do what you do. Why your gut feeling might be your best intention. Out of 10 I would give this book a 10/10, because this book really does inform. The amount of things that happen behind the scenes is incredible. This book delves into the capabilities of the human mind, and it is truly spectacular.
Malcolm Gladwell, in order to make his argument seem credible, utilizes specific writing techniques. Gladwell frequently uses anecdotes about successful individuals as examples to further strengthen his argument. Gladwell write that, “One warm, spring day in May of 2007, the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Vancouver Giants met for the Memorial Cup hockey championships in Vancouver, British Columbia” (Gladwell 15). Frequently, Gladwell starts each chapter with a story about an individual group. These stories showcase the events and lives of successful people and are followed by Gladwell’s analysis of their success. By using specific, descriptive anecdotes, Gladwell is proving the credibility of his argument. Instead of just reciting his analysis,
Is success is achieved through hard work and dedication? Most people seem to think in this way, only one person who does not think in that way: author Malcolm Gladwell. In his article “10,000 Hours,” he talks about a rule you must follow to be successful; that rule is the 10,000-hour rule. Gladwell uses a study from Anders Ericsson in his article to support his thought; therefore, this article is rhetorically effective because he has credibility and he uses logical evidence to convey his argument.
In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger was implementing its tenth mission. However, the spaceship exploded after 73 seconds because the O-ring seal failed. In this technological era, countless disasters are bound to occur frequently. Malcolm Gladwell’s essay “Blowup: Who Can Be Blamed for A Disaster Like the Challenger Explosion? No One, and We’d Better Get Used to It,” suggests that people should not be surprised by catastrophes, and at the same time, they should be prepared for them to happen at any time. People often make decisions with acknowledged risks; the occurrence of a disaster is too complex; and finally, people always place too much trust in technology.
Snap judgements are those immediate conclusions we make when we meet someone for the first time or experience something new or different. Many of us make snap judgements every single day of our lives without even being conscious of it. In fact, it only takes us a couple seconds to decide whether we like something or not. Snap judgements are a mental process we all do unconsciously. According to our class reading “Blink” by Malcom Gladwell, Gladwell states that most of us have experienced snap judgments, but we feel like we should not trust it. Snap judgements are not always precise but Gladwell believes we should ignore these odds and trust our snap judgements.
Probabilistic reasoning is difficult. People prefer to reject ambiguity and demand that concrete predictions be made. However, intelligence is inherently ambiguous. In intelligence forecasting, it is difficult to determine what information constitutes a signal, and what constitutes noise. In “Connecting the Dots: The Paradoxes of Intelligence Reform”, Malcolm Gladwell analyzes several high-profile “intelligence failures”, such as the Yom Kippur War, September 11th, Pearl Harbor, and the Bay of Pigs fiasco, as well as several psychological studies, and comes to the conclusion that: (1) there is no such thing as a perfect intelligence system - all systems require tradeoffs; (2) failures do not constitute the limitations of the intelligence community,
Malcom Gladwell, is an author of numerous New York Times Best Sellers, who uses several techniques in his writing to clarify and support his argument. Gladwell’s techniques are using stories to appeal to the reader’s emotions. Using scientific facts and research to logically strengthen his argument. Also, writing about controversial issues to establish credibility with the readers. These techniques are found in “Offensive Play”, “Small Change”, and “Harlan, Kentucky”, works by Gladwell.
...ocus their thoughts). This priming was only applicable when there was ambiguity in the participant (the fact that they were of mixed race). I think the idea that priming requires some original existence of thought, and doesn’t allow for the conception of a new idea in the participant to be a fundamental factor in how we perceive the idea of priming. The is an air of science-fiction when it comes tos the idea of priming and how people can make others do what they want; people surrendering to the will of others. We find a contrast in what priming is actually capable of: it can only nudge the participant in the direction that we want, but not control them with ideas of our own. We can only make people do something that they themselves, in some amount, would consider doing, or would consider themselves as being (eg. Mixed race people being primed as Black or White).
David Eagleman, in his book Incognito: The Secret lives of the Brain, explores the relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind. Referencing many real-life stories and scientific experiments, Eagleman argues that we governed more by our unconscious. The book explores one main question: “If the conscious mind - the part you consider to be you - is just the tip of the iceberg, what is the rest doing?". We are not aware of what the rest of brain, the unconscious, is doing; rather, “the brain runs its show incognito” (Eagleman 7). In my book report, I have interwoven my synopsis and my reflection/connections to what we have learned in class so the essay flows more chronologically. Additionally, I chose the examples and case studies that I believed best reflected the central argument of the book. For quotes, I only included sentences that reflected a main idea and terms/phrases that
Mook, D. G. (2004). Roger Sperry and the Bisected Brain. In D. G. Mook, Classic Experiments in Psychology (pp. 67-71). Westport, Connecticut, United States: Greenwood Press.
To most people the blink of an eye is a very short span of time. Most people would not believe, however, that critical information can be gathered and a conclusion made in the blink of an eye. In Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell proves that split second decisions or what some call “gut decisions” can be just as reliable if not more reliable than drawn out, researched conclusions. Gladwell believes that this book will revolutionize the thought process and the world, he proves this by using exemplification and compare and contrast.
Passer, M., Smith, R., Holt, N., Bremner, A., Sutherland, E., & Vliek, M. (2009). Psychology; Science of Mind and Behaviour. (European Edition). New York.
In the novel, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell discusses how unconscious thinking is just as important (If not more) as conscious thinking. “Thin-slicing”, a process of accessing an situation, with very little information, within a couple of seconds (23). Throughout Blink, Gladwell uses multiple examples to argue three main points that underline why sometimes those first two seconds of looking are the most significant in good decision making: less is better, intuition vs experience, & awareness.
To attempt to relinquish some of these concerns regarding the differentiation of mind and behaviour definition, Whiten (1996) established four distinct variations of mind- reading. These are implicit mind- reading, counter- deception, recognition of intervening variables, and experience projection. Impli...
Baird, A. A. (2011). THINK Psychology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. (pp. 264-275).
Numerous speculations have been advanced to clarify the relationship between what we call your mind and your brain. They incorporate Jackson and Nagel 's journey to oppose recognizing what we call 'mental