Blink

In Blink, Malcolm Gladwell is trying convince the reader of three things, namely (and I quote):

1. "Decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions make cautiously and deliberately." (p. 14)
2. "It is possible to learn when to listen to that powerful onboard computer and when to be wary of it." (p. 15)
3. "Our snap judgments and first impressions can be educated and controlled." (p. 15)

And, really, to be true to Gladwell, I should just stop this book review right now. You have more than enough information to tell you what you need to know about the book!

Because that's the thing about Blink. We make snap judgements, or rapid cognitions, literally in the--wait for it--blink of an eye. And reading the book, you realize how true that really is. The applications of that reality, then, are numerous. Consider first impressions.

According to Gladwell, first impressions can fall prey to something he dubs "The Warren Harding error." That is, we make judgements based on superficial realities that have little to do with what's actually true about a person. In Harding's case, the dude was elected to higher office time and again, eventually achieving the presidency itself, in spite of the fact that he was a mess of a politician. For example, here's a quote about Harding's oratorial skills (or lack thereof): "an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea." At the end of the day, Harding was a terrible president, but he was blessed to be born looking presidential.

For Gladwell, then, "The Warren Harding error is the dark side or rapid cognition. It is at the root of a good deal of prejudice and discrimination." As a white person, why is my first instinct to move to the side of the sidewalk when a black man comes my way? The Warren Harding error. Or when I'm cut off in my car, why do I blurt out "come on LADY!" The Warren Harding error.

So what's the antidote? According to Blink, you train your subconscious to make different snap decisions. In one study, participants gave their first impressions of black people. They were generally negative. Then, they were asked to spend time reading brief biographies of black heroes. Then, when they were asked to submit to a second test, their impressions were definitively more positive then during the prior test. In other words, a spontaneous response can, almost counter-intuitively, be controlled.

It's not all that cut and dried, of course. In one passage, Gladwell notes that people have a bias that values height. The argument goes like this: taller people make better impressions and therefore get better (and better paying) jobs. He writes, "an inch of height is worth $789 a year in salary. That means that a person who is six feet tall but otherwise identical to someone who is five foot five will make on average $5,525 more per year."

Just sayin', at 6' 5" I must be doing something wrong!