Key Points in Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell is an exploratory work that examines the human mind’s intuitive decision-making abilities. Gladwell’s work provides several accounts and examples that support his argument that judgements or decisions made in a split-second (snap judgements) with very little supporting rationale for those decisions should be greatly appreciated. The author makes this argument by investigating cognitive intuition and the psychological methods that supplement our human decision-making powers. Included in these “snap-judgements” are our inherent capacities to assess certain situations as well as make us unconscious to self-attributes of a prejudice nature (i. e. racist, sexist, etc. ). This brief report will attempt to summarize key concepts in Blink, comment on Gladwell’s apparent arguments related to these key concepts or themes, touch on why they are significant, and what can be done with the knowledge of these concepts on my own decision making.
The central theme in Blink is the concept of “thin-slicing” and is described by Gladwell as the human brain’s ability to take the briefest of experiences and impressions of people, circumstances, and or a situation to make a judgment or decision. Several examples contained in the book include the assessments by sculpture experts of the non-authentic statue obtained by the Getty Museum, the psychologist John Gottman’s ability to determine the success or failure of a marriage with high accuracy, the “Warren Harding Error” where our minds lean towards biases based on a person’s looks, and the music industry experts that listened to Kenna’s music. Although there are good and bad sides to all things, Gladwell makes the case that thin-slicing and its associated rapid cognitive behaviors do have some benefits, especially in environments that rapid cognition are necessary, like in times of crisis, on the battlefield, or in the ER. They key argument is that this judgement mentality plays a critical role in the behavior of the human mind and its qualitative decision authority. This method of judgement or decision making while not what most would call conventional in nature can be combined with the rational method of evidence gathering and analytic methods to afford making the best decisions in each situation. I hold the conventional wisdom with respect to decision making in high regard as an analysis engineer it’s my responsibility to look at as many details as I reasonably can to make a decision and to be able to support that decision. My line of work has limited capacity to make snap decisions nor does the environment often call for it. Gladwell’s examples and supporting evidence do challenge my thinking in this way as I am faced with decisions of differing importance and magnitude daily.
The adaptive unconscious is another core thought of Gladwell’s that constitutes the second half of the human mind, opposite the rational, conscious mind. This is the part of the brain that Gladwell claims performs the thin-slicing. As the opposite of the conscious it works very differently by accepting very limited pieces of information about something to make an instinctive decision(s) about that information. When we use this part of the brain it is by reflex, and not necessarily known when it is being used. Gladwell even goes as far as to postulate the possibility to control this part of our brains in making decisions while also indicating that people can also make bad decisions if this part of our brains is relied too heavily upon. In rapid situations this is the part of our brain that we use when we don’t have the time to consider all the available information in a decision. Later in the book Gladwell discusses facial cues and the science behind facial expressions. The adaptive unconscious is argued to be better at understanding such recognizable cues that would otherwise be unnoticed by the conscious mind. The most revealing of examples to me offered by Gladwell was that of the Millennium Challenge war game administered by the Pentagon in 2000. Paul Van Riper, former U. S. Vietnam War commander is selected to serve as a fictional military commander in part of a very crucial war game exercise testing the capability of the U. S. military machine to know every detail about its enemy and overwhelm them in every angle. In this example the adaptive conscious completely alluded the Pentagon and opposing war game leaders. This cognitive intuition with respect to rapid decision making was not recognized for how important of a role it plays in a battlefield environment, even if simulated beforehand. The “locked door” metaphor is perfect for its use relating to the behavior of the adaptive unconscious and can at times be better for the decision-making process to be hidden and outside of our abilities to rationally describe it. Being more aware of this intuitive part of my brain only makes me more conscious of reading pieces of information I may not have otherwise read, taking those pieces in and considering them before making a judgement.
The “Warren Harding Error” discussed in Chapter 3 of Blink evaluates a historic example of how our prejudices work to serve us ill. Gladwell notes that the “Warren Harding Error” ultimately resulting in the election of one of the United States’ worst presidents is an example of the “dark side” of rapid cognition or thin slicing. Judged by his physical appearance, particularly his immaculate charisma, handsome good looks and stature, others were given the sense that he would be an exemplary leader even to the level of being presidential. This account of snap judgement shows the failure of such behavior rooted in prejudice, as individuals assumed using poor evidence and intuition that Harding’s looks meant that he would be a good president. Gladwell will continue to make the case that snap judgments are useful and powerful although at times quantitatively wrong.
Another example evaluated by Gladwell of the unfortunate side effect of snap judgements is at car dealerships. The results of a study found that black people were given higher offers on vehicles than white people. The argument made by Gladwell however is that although the car salesmen may not be consciously racist, it can be said that their thin slicing controlled by their adaptive unconscious may still make racist judgements. While I do my best to be tolerant and unbiased it is clear from the case made in Blink that my unconscious mind can influence my judgments and decisions. This is only exacerbated when it is coupled by my own personal experiences, upbringing, and social observations shaped by events and public discourse. Gladwell expertly examines the science of polling and its use in politics, consumer products, and the music industry. The revelation made by the author is that while the importance of polls and surveys cannot be ignored, when compared to expert opinion the two can differ quite significantly. Gladwell explores the problem that people have with articulating the reasons for the decisions they make or tastes they may have and how polling results can be useful but also a problem particularly for product research where the snap judgements made by some are so different than certain experts. In the case of the musician Kenna, his music was widely admired by music industry executives and other well-known artists, however the general population that were surveyed did not have the same appreciation. The ability of experts in an industry to use their thin slicing powers is arguably different than the everyday person. The Pepsi versus Coke competition fueled by the results of blind taste testing surveys show the disparity between the development of a “new” product based on survey results and yet completely backfiring because people are also loyal to a given brand and therefore not only bounded by their sense of taste. The nature of the blind taste test is also not a good indicator of peoples likes as in reality people do not drink or enjoy their beverages blind or in quick sips as Gladwell notes. Intuitive decisions and tastes formed by people can sometimes interfere with the actual decision itself, a problem highlighted by polling. The gap between survey results and real popularity exhibits the difference in what people claim they like versus what they actually like.
Gladwell’s other example of this is the Aeron chair that did not perform well when surveyed yet became a best-selling product. The argument being made by the author is that ordinary or laypeople easily associate new and different with bad and that it is better to leave the intuition and adaptive conscience behind its “locked door” so as not to interfere with its process. Considering the author’s argument it is evident that when taking a poll and considering the results, those responses should be weighed against field experts so as to obtain a better understanding of the potential performance of a given product or political position. I recognize in myself that in the process of taking a poll or survey the judgements I make are rapid, cognitive although not as deeply as a decision made over some time with additional evidence. It is interesting the results of polling vs. expert judgements as we see this on display in our daily lives where politics is at the forefront of the daily event cycle. The final chapter in Blink presents a very interesting argument regarding the concept of mind-reading and the human mind’s capacity to do so when under intense moments of arousal or stress. Gladwell examines the ability to “mind-read” by reading someone’s gestures, expressions, and other non-verbal cues. Under certain circumstances including extremely high stress and elevated heartrates, we can become temporarily autistic such that our cognitive ability to comprehend the additional meaning and intentions beyond someone else’s literal words is real. Gladwell makes the comparison to Peter, who is autistic, and incapable of taping his adaptive unconscious to recognize facial, social, or other non-verbal cues that may give insight to someone’s behavior or intentions. Using Peter as an example of someone who lives this condition on a daily basis of his adult life, examples are given of the loss of mind-reading ability in high stress situations including police car chases, shootings, assassination attempts, all include instances where humans are given very little amounts of time to make decisions. Some of the examples Gladwell offers speak to the subconscious prejudices humans have and as a result the change in behavior of organizations that are most prone to situations of high cognitive arousal. The killing of Amadou Diallo is the principal example Gladwell continues to refer to throughout this chapter as it illustrates the situation in which the thin-slicing and snap judgments made that while from a point of view appear to be racially prejudice were in fact in error as the police officers failed to appropriately “mind-read” the situation and mistook Diallo’s intentions. Their actions were perceived as racially motivated even if that was not their intent and were simply acting purely on instinct and training.
In summary, it is Gladwell’s conclusion that stressful situations make us “mind-blind” to things we might otherwise have been aware of causing us to make inappropriate decisions. As an African-American I can relate to several of the examples Gladwell presents throughout the book and their use as it relates to racial prejudice. It is important as well to not presumptuously take the position that people of a certain demographic, social status, or job inherently have the biases that have succumbed individuals in the stressful situations described. Gladwell promotes the idea or improving our rapid cognition or snap judgement abilities by making the efforts toward changing unconscious beliefs and attitudes that would otherwise impede the intuitive capabilities of our minds.
Finally, Gladwell concludes Blink with a fascinating look at the concept of listening with the eyes through the use of blind auditions for musicians hoping to acquire a spot on the orchestra. The nature of conducting the auditions in this manner is to remove inherent biases that exists in judges and symphony hardliners. Musicians are then appropriately selected based on musicianship and not attributes like race, gender, and or ethnicity. Again, Gladwell is showing how prejudices influence our decision making and although this method is one that can eliminate bias, it is not always possible to completely remove the things that shouldn’t affect our snap judgements.
As Gladwell concludes his argument in Blink following the myriad of examples previously described in this report by claiming how susceptible we are to external influences and biases on our unconscious, his point is that we must strive to avert these influences that can negatively impact or impede our intuitions and judgements. A decision maker needs to be able to use not only their rapid cognitive intuition but also their adaptive unconscious to make appropriate, expert-like snap judgements that are devoid of bias. It was an eye-opening experience reading Blink and Gladwell’s well thought out cases and examples. His recommendation for making the parts of our mind that perform thin-slicing useful in improving our world is eloquent and highly valuable in managing my thinking and the process through which I make future decisions and snap judgements.
