Blink By Malcolm Gladwell Essay

Gladwell has a tendency to oversimplify to the point where the story he’s trying to tell isn’t simple anymore, it’s not simple anymore. When talking about the IAT tests, Gladwell

In Chapter Three, “The Warren Harding Error,” Gladwell focuses on what he calls “the dark side” of thin-slicing, which can be when our first instincts betray us, and we actually make errors based on our snap judgements. Gladwell begins by talking about Warren Harding, who was one of our presidents back in the 1900’s and explains how people felt he should be a good president based on his good looking appearance. Harding was tall, dark, and handsome and people felt he would be a good president because he had the “presidential appearance.” According to the book, historians said that Harding was the worst president of the United States. Gladwell’s exemplification of Harding expresses that it is okay to make snap decisions, but you have to keep

Gladwell began the book by describing a “thin-slice”, and then refers to that definition after each example. For instance, when Gladwell describes the “Warren Harding error” -- or the phenomenon where people are selected for jobs simply because they look like they are qualified – he says,

Without these two strategies, Gladwell would have failed to draw attention and transition from section to section, or build up to and eventually defend his claim with any undeniable facts. Statistics and rhetorical questions do not only apply to arguments about success, but they are also rhetorical mediums that can be and are used in a variety of ways. Rhetorical questions can be seen on posters, in ads, and in any strong paper. How’s that for applicability? Statistics are most commonly found in visual advertisements and websites. They use evidence that cannot be discredited to credit any possible argument. The reason these two strategies work so well together is that questioning adheres to the visceral and emotional side of an audience, while cold, hard numbers build credibility and respect to logic and reasoning. This results in a powerful one-two punch that left many Gladwell readers wondering if they missed the chance to be great because of something as simple as a set of numbers and slashes on a

Malcolm Gladwell discusses about the cultural legacies passed through generations and its effects, be it good or bad. He addresses the cultural, social and psychological roots of family feuds (Chapter 6, Harlan, Kentucky), airplane crashes (Chapter 7, The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes), and mathematical aptitude (Chapter 8, Rice Paddies and Math Tests). He also digs into the sociological issue of class structure by giving readers an account of Marita’s school life and the efforts she takes to utilize the chance she got for her education. In the epilogue, he discusses his own family and about the advantages his family got because of their ethnic background.

An ineffective device used by Gladwell was his use of repetition of evidence and failure to acknowledge counterexamples by forcing the reader into thinking that Gladwell’s theory is the only one possible to be correct. The lack of acknowledgment towards counterexamples thrusts the audience into thinking that Gladwell’s opinion is the only viable one. “Philip Norman, who wrote the Beatles biography”, “nonstop show, hour after hour”, “Here is John Lennon”, and “playing all night long” are examples of repetition of evidence because the author already established that the

He asks, “How are human beings connected? Do we all belong to separate worlds, operating simultaneously but autonomously, so that the links between any two people, anywhere in the world are few and distant? Or are we all bound up together in a grand, interlocking web? (Page 34)” Gladwell doesn’t actually expect readers to come up with an answer, but he does realize that readers wouldn’t consider these questions had he not put the questions in their heads to start with. By doing this he allows his audience to form their own opinions on the questions asked before he reveals what answers the questions were originally designed to expose. Gladwell effectively uses rhetorical questions to get the audience interested early on, therefore making the information given in the selection more important.

Gladwell uses facts to persuade the audience to his side of the argument. It helps make his evidence and argument clear and credible.

Through his novel, Gladwell reveals what he believes is the key to success. FIrst off, Gladwell begins his argument on the offensive by using logos tactics. He does so by using a statistic, from

I wondered how many of the solutions to situations that he described were any more than finding ways to filter out information that was superfluous? This is evident in the case of the doctors who did not know if their patients were having heart trouble or not. The solution eliminated the questions that relate to risk factors and only focused on the actual symptoms. A risk factor is not pertinent to whether the person is having a heart attack at that very moment, though it seems it should be. Doctors attempt to weigh risk factors in their determination of someone’s heart health, when it should have no import. Eliminating that information is not “thin slicing” instead, it is increasing the efficiency of your diagnosis. The same idea can be applied to Gladwell’s arguments about the Getty statue (the letters were irrelevant to the authenticity of the piece), and the wrapping of margarine (The foil wrapping gives it a look of quality, even if it doesn’t change anything.) I also wondered if Gladwell assumed far too much. For instance, he often haphazardly tied in overall ideas to his smaller individual points. Such as in his chapter about Kenna, he says at the end of one sub-chapter where he describes experts’ taste tests between Coke and Pepsi: “Isn’t this what happened to Kenna?” It seems irrational to devote an entire series of sub-chapters to something and then apply it in such a vague and oversimplified way. He also assumes that “experts” are immune to the foibles of blind taste testing, while giving no evidence that they are any better, other than saying, “Would they be fooled by the Pepsi Challenge? Of course not,” as though it should just be accepted as fact, when in reality, many studies have shown that “expert tasters”, in particular, the

Blink is a book that analyzes the way people make decisions. According to the author, Malcolm Gladwell, people use one of two strategies to come to a decision. The first strategy is a conscious one. When using this strategy, people think about what they have learned and develop an answer. The second is an unconscious strategy in which a person's brain reaches a conclusion in a matter of seconds, often times without awareness. These conclusions are what we generally refer to as hunches or instincts and, it is the development and reliability of these types of conclusions that Gladwell focuses on in this book. In doing so, Gladwell sets out to accomplish three tasks. The first is to prove that decisions made very quickly can be as

He describes the early life of different geniuses, and how this profoundly impacted the outcome of their lives. Gladwell writes well, allowing the reader to visualize in their mind the plight of a child who doesn’t receive the attention from his family, which likely would have made a significant difference in how well this child would be acclimated to the world. He paints the picture of children who are left to make their own way. This lack of direction or support from family prevents the sense of wellbeing and feeling of acceptance which might have been otherwise been bestowed on the child. Had the parents been more diligent in ensuring the children were well rounded, rather than allowed to have natural growth. In contrast, he provides a detailed example of what one would expect from a family who actively taught a child to have a larger conception of the entire world. The context provided presents a good way to compare and contrast the different people written about in this

Do you understand the true power in your mind? Unconsciously we have an extraordinary capability to analyze problems, eliminate variables and choose the most appropriate solution to the circumstances in which we are. The potential found in the hidden corners of our unconscious, that is according to the author of the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. This author, has shown that snap judgments and first impressions we make on someone are as reasonable as if we had observed a long time, provided we have proven experience in evaluating these situations. We are able to master the ability to reach conclusions faster, able to make snap judgments based on accurate information, and decide to take action. Gladwell introduces the concept

To start with, Gladwell uses ethos, an appeal to ethics, as a device to effectively explain how

By using these stories, it appears as though Gladwell has a complete adequate research. Gladwell writes with a more confident, thoughtful, and authoritative tone that allows him to craft a rhetorically efficient argument. As a professional journalist, with a degree in history, working for reputable publishing companies for 26 years, Gladwell appears more than capable of establishing a reliable article. He displays this knowledge with not only the intellectual language and writing style he uses, but also the way he organizes his article and builds his argument makes it rhetorically effective and