Instant Decisions In Malcolm Gladwell's 'Blink'

Daviney McKay
Sherry Lind
Advanced English
24 February 2023
Making Decisions Everyone makes instant decisions without putting much thought and effort into them. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Blink, he talks about the unconscious and the “sources” that form the habits we act upon. It is common for people to thin-slice and make snap judgments about someone before even hearing them speak.
In chapter one of Blink, Gladwell covers the action of thin-slicing and all the information that can quickly be obtained about someone. He uses an experiment performed by Samuel Gosling, a psychologist, as an example of thin-slicing. In Gosling’s experiment, he has people who have known the person for years and people who have never met the person to answer

He talks about an experiment performed by Sheena Iyengar and Raymond Fisman, professors at Columbia University. In their experiment, they find that when they compare what speed-daters say they want with what they are attracted to, the two things don’t match (Gladwell 65-66). I agree with Gladwell and this experiment because I often refer to my “type” as one thing but am attracted to something completely different. I used to find myself thinking that my “type” is a tall, muscular, blond-haired cowboy but it turns out that’s not what I wanted at all. I recently found that my “type” is a tall, skinny, brown-haired athlete. I believe I figured my “type” to be a cowboy because of the people I was surrounded by growing up. My dad used to ride bareback horses and most of his friends, to this day, live on a farm or a ranch. Therefore, as a little girl, I was always around cowboys and believed that when I became older I needed to be with a man as sweet, caring, and respectful as them. Unfortunately, times aren’t the same and it is extremely difficult to find a cowboy like them which caused my “type” to change and move in a different

He expands the action by discussing a social experiment performed by Ian Ayre, a law professor in Chicago. In Ayre’s experiment, he found that women and African Americans were considered to be suckers and were often pushed to buy a car for a much higher price (Gladwell 93-94). I feel this experiment is very true because, as women, we are immediately viewed as weak and dependent on others. This causes us to be overlooked when it comes to running a company or buying a car. Today, genders have started to even out when it comes to jobs but there are still times when women are faced with discrimination. I also agree with the experiment because it is common, especially in North Dakota, for Caucasians to view those of a different race differently from themselves. It can be very disheartening to witness as they may be very intelligent and friendly but are looked down upon because of how they look or