I read “Blink” written by Malcolm Gladwell and thought it was even better than the first book I read, “What the Dog Saw.” This book focuses on how humans make snap judgements; he calls it thin slicing. It dealt with all different kinds of snap judgements, both the good and the bad, and uses numerous examples throughout the book of different studies conducted by all types of doctors, psychologists and experts to differentiate between the way our brain thin slices.
The studies Gladwell used as examples are an education unto themselves: how micro expressions in marital discord can determine the viability of a marriage; how a sip taste is not the same as a bottle test (remember Pepsi vs. Coke, New Coke and then the return to Classic Coke?); how the best car salespersons do not discriminate on appearances; how “priming” people can affect their behavior; how U.S. military wargames conducted to test intel gathering techniques taught the military leaders that wars are won by decisive judgement, not intelligence; and how, sometimes, when our brains are over aroused by stress, our snap judgements are not to be trusted.
The book was very informative and allowed an individual the opportunity to reflect on their own behavior. I think this was why I enjoyed the book so much. It reinforced things I learned when I read a book by Gavin de Becker (a book Gladwell referenced in this book) about trusting your instincts when you feel threatened or scared – your brain has already processed the threat but you cannot verbalize what it is doing – as well as teaching me new things about human behavior. Gladwell is an excellent author in that he can pinpoint all this behavior and then bring it back to the personal. The final chapter of the book does just that: A Call to Action.
In the final chapter he discusses how the Munich Philharmonic conducted blind auditions and was stunned to realize they had to hire a woman, how that woman had to fight for over a decade in court after court to earn their grudging respect and equitable treatment, and how we, as humans, are not even aware of our own prejudices. Once we take the visual element out of auditions or interviews or court hearings, our brains are allowed to focus singly on the elements we are tasked to evaluate. And it is then that the unconscious brain works at it’s best.
Gladwell’s ability to encourage the reader to rise to the occasion of being the best person possible allows for humanity to shed past mistakes and forgive heinous errors in judgement without pointing the finger or blaming. His Call to Action chapter pinpointed the way humanity could make some slight course corrections that didn’t involve DEI or laws about Equal Opportunity, but we could simply remove the visual element from our decision making and allow the sorting our unconscious mind does to win out. Gladwell leaves the reader with the idea that hope for humanity would not be misplaced even after closing the book with a devastating chapter about how negative snap judgements can have horrible consequences. Blink was a book written by a deft writer who can teach, cultivate and entertain without the reader even realizing it.
