blink by Malcolm Gladwell

 

Malcolm Gladwell attempts to answer the unanswered in his book blink. It is a common belief that it is better to think before you act; but is that true? With a myriad of evidence, Gladwell answers this question.

To answer his daunting question, Gladwell presents the reader with a slew of evidence that leads him to a conclusion. As a hook he provided the reader with a story of how experts on statues were able to know that his sculpture was a fake when months of investigation by trained professionals said otherwise. First, this gets the audience interested and introduces the theme of the book. Also, it begins to to convey the message that experts have the ability to make mostly accurate judgements. Their expertise removes them from bias and judgement that the common person’s perception would be clouded by.

Gladwell then introduces the idea of thin-slicing with a story about a couple whose relationship future was determined within observing 15 minutes of interaction between them. A scientist was able to breakdown and categorize each second of interaction between the couple. Once the analysis was completed, the results showed the interaction was mostly negative even though it hadn’t seemed that way initially. Essentially this is what experts are able to do subconsciously. They can provide mostly accurate results.

Towards the end Gladwell tells the story of Amadou Diallo, a black man who was wrongfully shot in New York City. The policeman made a snap decision that Diallo was dangerous, which turned out to be inaccurate. By ending with this, Gladwell makes clear of the fact that quick decisions can be good or bad. They can be just as good as or even better than long drawn out ones. Unfortunately however, they can also lead to the wrong decision being made. So sometimes maybe the first choice is always the best choice.