While on vacation last week in Montana, I picked up a random book at our lodge entitled, “Blink” by author Malcolm Gladwell. I really had no idea what it was about, but the title intrigued me. Although it’s difficult to pinpoint one central theme, the book is basically about how people make judgments. Gladwell explores the part of our mind he calls our “adaptive unconscious” which allows us to determine things in the blink of an eye. These decisions are based on narrow “slices” of experiences we have had. Specifically, Gladwell believes that these judgments can sometimes be as good as decisions we make cautiously and deliberately. He goes on to say that we should step back from overly analytical decision making and trust our instincts and experience. Instead, less input is better than more input (if we focus on the most relevant facts).
One of the stories in “Blink” takes place at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Emergency room doctors were instructed to change the way they diagnose heart attacks. They were actually told to gather less information on their patients, but to instead focus in on just a few pieces of relevant information (ex. Blood pressure, ECG). They were also told to ignore everything else, such as the patient’s age, weight and medical history. The doctors initially resisted this plan because they, like all of us, are told that more information is always better. What was the result of the change? Cook County is now one of the best places in the U.S. at diagnosing heart attacks.
“Blink” also covers when our quick judgments go awry. In fact, the author’s motivation for writing this book came a few years ago when he decided to grow his hair long. Immediately his life changed. He started getting speeding tickets all the time and getting pulled out of airport security lines for special attention. Perhaps most notable for Gladwell was his experience one day while walking along 14th Street in Manhattan. A police van pulled up and officers jumped out looking for a rapist – and the rapist had long hair. Of course, the rapist looked nothing like Gladwell in all other respects. The only similarity was the long, curly hair. What struck Gladwell was the stereotyping. There was something about the first impression of his hair that overshadowed every other consideration in the hunt for the rapist. This got Gladwell thinking about the power of first impressions.
As Massey pointed out in his film, we all make judgments. Think about when you meet someone for the first time. Gladwell says your mind takes about 2 seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. “Blink” is about those 2 seconds (or what Gladwell calls, “rapid cognition”). Bottom line – Gladwell believes that these decisions are “not the proverbial light bulb, but rather a flickering candle.” The key, he says, to using rapid cognition wisely is to focus on the on the most relevant facts.
The author includes the following puzzle that I’d like to open up to the class for discussion. Please provide the first answer that comes to you.
“A man and his son are in a serious car accident. The father is killed, and the son is rushed to the emergency room. Upon arrival, the attending doctor looks at the child and gasps, ‘This is my son!’ Who is the doctor?”
Please respond to this blog with your answers. Please also include an example of an instance where you made a snap judgment of something/someone within the “blink of an eye” – did this decision end up being good or bad?
Thanks, CaroleC
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