Blink By Malcolm Gladwell Essay

All in all, Gladwell helps paint a picture of what’s said to be behind the locked door of the subconscious. He uses repetition and rhetorical questions to stress how thin-slicing plays a crucial part in our world. The power of our minds are limitless but Gladwell is still searching for the key to unlocking the truth of our unconscious

Criminal case is always tedious when it involves little or no information about the offender, like in the 9/11 terrorist attack which annihilated most of the workers in and damaged the New York Trade Center building. However, in an attempt to identify the offenders, government officials and investigators try out different ways such as criminal profiling and others. Thus, in the New Yorker article, “Dangerous Minds” by Malcolm Gladwell; the author informs the deeper problems with FBI profiling and argues that it is ineffective. He questions the usefulness of criminal profiling, “But how useful is that profile, really?” and uses other criminal cases, group research analyses, and analogies to refute

In life, people tend to overthink and overanalyze certain situations and events that occur around them; in reality they should be focusing more on their instincts and quick decisions. This is exactly the point that Malcolm Gladwell makes in the intro to his book, Blink. In order to successfully get this point across, Gladwell blends together a number of different strategies and devices. This is a common practice for established authors, using literary and rhetorical devices in order to keep the audience interested in what they are saying. In the intro to Blink, Gladwell uses the rhetorical devices of plot progression, allusion, and narration to present his beliefs in a way the reader can easily understand.

In Chapter Three, “The Warren Harding Error,” Gladwell focuses on what he calls “the dark side” of thin-slicing—the way that our unconscious minds tend toward Gladwell by arguing why our minds subconscious automatically assumes things based of stereotypes using the art of persuasion. Throughout this book you constantly hear of the idea of how we make snap judgements of everything and everyone and how we can be more aware of it in our lives. It also explains the good and bad side of "thin-slicing." (AKA snap judgements) In the book it says, "...to convince you that our snap judgements and first impression can be educated and controlled." (Gladwell Pg. 15) In chapter three of the book, Blink, it reflects on how snap judgements tie in with stereotypes. It says in the book, "We make connection much more quickly between pairs of ideas that are already related in our minds..." (Gladwell Pg. 77) The chapter starts off with exemplification when Gladwell gives the Warren Harding example which also explains the bad side to thin slicing. He then goes into classification and definition with the example of the IAT tests. The IAT tests are the perfect example as to how thin slicing is not always a good thing. This test measured that second level of attitude in an unconscious level, so it is our immediate associations that tumble out before you have time to think about them. The test also shows the unconscious attitudes that you might have even if they are completely opposite of what your

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

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

Ray Bradbury begins his introduction of Guy Montag as an average unenlightened citizen in the novel Fahrenheit 451, however throughout the novel Bradbury develops, and transforms, Montag into a new man. Montag begins to question his life, intelligence, and morals after meeting a young woman named Clarisse, she thinks about why things happen as opposed to how things happen, her mentality begins to rub off on Montag out setting his transformation. As Montag realizes he is living a false life, he begins to test the law, involving himself in crime making him a criminal. Luckily he is able to escape the punishment of the crimes committed, allowing the rebirth of Montag into an intellectual rebel. Bradbury expresses the demolishing intelligence of current and future generations throughout the novel by giving a glimpse into Montag’s world.

Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the best selling book Tipping Point, wrote Blink. Before being a staff writer for The New Yorker, he was a business and science reporter for the Washington Post. The connection between the cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology research will change the way you understand every decision you make. The book is about how we sum up all the data that is before us and in a split second make an informed decision-in the blink of an eye. It explains how we think without thinking and how we make choices that we can’t explain. At the beginning of the book Gladwell sets out three purposes of this book. Blink is a book that explains how we make decisions in everyday life, first impressions when meeting someone new or have to make decisions under stress.

Summary of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking was written by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell’s purpose in writing this book was to explore the thought process of the mind. He presents examples of thin-slicing and rapid cognition throughout the book and compares each situation to each other.

The book I am reviewing is a great non-fiction book about our worlds outliers. The book is written by Malcolm Gladwell who’s a staff writer at the New Yorker. The book talks about the outliers in our society. It’s topics stretches from rice paddies to music performers that have excelled in their fields. But all the topics are related by a sense of success and the ability to achieve that success.

Is cultural legacy to blame for the death of 228 passengers on board the 1997 Korean Air Flight 801 as explored by Outliers author Malcolm Gladwell? I agree with Gladwell that cultural legacies are powerful and persistent, as seen in Korean Air’s tarnished history. Although some cultural legacies are more impactful than others in terms of a person’s probability of success, at least a portion of someone’s many cultural legacies most likely have a great impact on their achievements. Therefore, a person’s cultural legacy should always, to some degree, be factored into a person’s chance of success.

There are no instances where he does not provide the reader with an example to demonstrate his points, to provide a basis from which to get a better understanding of the terminology and concepts used. The effective use of practical examples by Gladwell throughout the book allows the reader to become an interactive reader not a passive reader. If the examples he used in the book did not apply to the lives of the readers then Gladwell would loose the reader. He truly does promote the idea that "we are attuned to personal cues than contextual cues. The reader would not continue to read on and stop and think of examples in their own lives. For example, his use of the study of cultural microrhythms by William Condon and his use of his experience with Tom Gau to further demonstrate the meaning of interactional synchrony.

In the book Gladwell's structure is what, as a whole, conveys the message itself. He talks about real life examples and expert analysis to show how making a split second decision can be more beneficial that a well thought out plan. For example, at the beginning of the book Gladwell tells of a new museum in California. The museum was in search of a piece that would “put them on the map”.

Gladwell is very versed in his writing abilities and work history. His history of writing comes from a deep and well established background. As a former writer for The Washington Post, Gladwell established his firm writing style in many forms of informational pieces. He has spoken about what he has done and relishes in what he likes to do. He has said that, he enjoys the

Gladwell is the author of the famous book “Outliers”, which is well known for its 10,000 hour analogy in which Gladwell claims