Blink: A Critical Analysis Of Blink, By Malcolm Gladwell

Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, explores the concepts of intuition and snap judgments: their trustworthiness, the process to reach such conclusions, and their shortfalls. These snap judgments, or moments of “rapid cognition”, are explored through a series of examples and scenarios illustrated throughout the book. Gladwell, a journalist for The New Yorker, noticed an unusual increase in speeding tickets received and the frequency with which he was pulled over and inspected at airports. Inspired by these personal experiences of being prejudge based on his hair, Gladwell decided to research further into the power of first impressions with the goal of uncovering what happens during those few seconds people make snap judgments.
The entirety of Blink

It covers several topics discussed in class by including numerous examples of different research methods such as experiments and case studies. As we have learned in class, experiments are an effective way to either prove or disprove hypotheses. Blink is chalked full of experiments Gladwell uses as evidence to argue his points. Through such experiments, like the one testing the accuracy of the heart attack algorithm, readers can recognize things such as independent variables, dependent variables, control groups, and experimental groups. Gladwell also recognizes the fact that all mental processes stem from biological structures. For example, at one point in the book, Gladwell discussed where in the brain people’s abilities for face recognition comes from (the fusiform gyrus), as well as why transferring information from the left to right hemisphere distorts such face recognition abilities (verbal descriptions can alter visual memories). Additionally, Gladwell also discusses the workings of the unconscious, how even though we are unaware of it, our unconscious is constantly gathering information from our surroundings that help us to get those intuitive gut feelings and make accurate snap

So common is this feeling of intuition and gut feeling, that even I have personally witnessed and experienced it. I can think of one specific example where I was watching a football game with my dad and he intuitively knew the pass the quarterback threw was bad, and lo and behold, he was correct. Amazed, I asked him how he knew, but he was unable to pinpoint anything specific. From a wider perspective, this book is still incredibly relevant, especially in today’s society. The idea that stereotyping influences first impressions and negatively impacts people’s views of specific races is both brought up in the book as well as prevalent in the outside world. Through a phenomenon Gladwell experienced himself, someone’s appearance can greatly affect how they are treated. Gladwell emphasized the fact that snap judgments can be painfully wrong, especially when affected by stereotypes, as seen in the IAT tests. Furthermore, Gladwell applied this idea to police shootings. He mentioned the murder of Amadou Diallo and how the police officers were immediately wrongfully suspicious of Diallo impart because of his race and the area he was in. 49 shots hit Diallo, a staggering amount for a man who was terrified and not even armed. Today, this idea is discussed every day through the topic of police brutality and racial prejudice, two major issues that reflect how our snap judgments can affect