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Malcolm Gladwell Blink Analysis

Decent Essays

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell tells of many people and events that had disastrous or incredible outcomes because of the power of the subconscious to make decisions that the conscious mind is unaware of. Throughout Blink, Gladwell presents many ways to show that the mind and body give off hints to one’s true feelings in the “blink” of an eye. One of his many compelling arguments is the idea of “priming,” while one of his less compelling arguments is the idea of anyone having too much information to make a correct decision. Priming is such a compelling argument because it can account for such a large change in mindset. However, the idea of having too much information is misleading and confusing. Both arguments have the potential to change how one looks at their own …show more content…

It is the act of using key phrases or words to subconsciously influence how one’s mind acts and thinks in a certain way. The study done by two Dutch researchers where two groups of people were asked to answer questions from the game Trivial Pursuit after having thought about either being a professor or soccer hooligans shows the difference priming can make. The group of people who thought of being a professor, being in a “smart” mindset, answered the 55.6% of the questions correctly, while the soccer hooligans group answered only 42.6% correctly. Priming could open the door to many different ways to look at testing in schools or the effects of everyday life on students. Such as, if a student is told repetitively that they are not capable of a certain grade or other achievement, that will instill in them the idea that they truly are incapable. Priming can also be used to encourage students and help them with their grades or other achievements. The connection between priming and a better mindset, therefore result creates potential for opportunities to be handled in a way that benefits everyone

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