In Blink, and in earlier The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell celebrates the small, the little clues that we all see but rarely notice, that should lead us to a sound conclusion. According the Gladwell, we should trust the intuitive, the flash of insight, the first glance, the nonverbal, the insights in the thin-sliced verdict.
When it comes to nonverbal signals sent by speakers, or liars, or lovers, the evidence is overwhelming that we may not be able to explain the messages, but we all get them. They teach us more than words can, and, as in the case of the shooting of Amadou Diallao, ignoring the unspoken signs can lead to terrible consequences. Extreme stress, fear, and the pressure of time blind us to the obvious.
Often enough, we do react, and often badly, to unconscious prejudices about race, and color and even height. Gladwell shows through simple, verified experiments in judgments of people that such tests demonstrate we all make snap and subtle decisions based on deeply ingrained preconceptions. Gladwell himself tested positive on these, showing a moderate preference for whites even though he says, “I’m half black,” from the side of his mother, a Jamaican.
The case of the kouros, a fake statue that convinced experts after extensive examination that it was genuine begins the book. Gladwell shows how the first take, the quick insight of experts told a different story but the Getty Museum wanted desperately to have a genuine kouros and failed to trust that thin-sliced first glance. In this case, as well as in the discussion of the marriage relationship experts, the author seems to argue, unconvincingly, that the unconscious judgments are better and more trustworthy than close and careful consideration. This argument of Gladwell tries to convince us that, in some important cases, the magical insights of intuition are superior to the careful and systematic examination of evidence. It is simply not to be believed. However, this book presents a fascinating and overwhelming demonstration that the little blinks of insight and discovery are enormously important, that the language of the nonverbal can be learned, and that it is important that we do so.
Two Strikes 