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The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall For Tall, Dark, Handsome Men

1203 Words5 Pages

A textual analysis of “The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall For Tall, Dark, Handsome Men” In “The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall for Tall, Dark, Handsome Men” – the third chapter of the book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Gladwell poses a problem that people may unconsciously make prejudgments when they thin-slice. Gladwell convinces the readers that although thin-slicing is a powerful tool for people to comprehend their surroundings, the judgments made on the spur of a moment without contemplation below the surface are sometimes proved to be incorrect, racist, or even harmful. Throughout his piece of writing, Gladwell appears fair-minded and knowledgeable, provides his readers with sufficient data and statistics, and successfully employs emotional appeals; which strengthens and add credibility to his argument. “The Warren Harding Error” is divided into five smaller sections, starting with an anecdote of how President Harding won his presidency only because of his appearance was “beyond the local world”. The incompetence of President Harding in terms of politics is a prime example of how …show more content…

He describes the Harding case from the early encounter with Harry Daugherty to when Harding died of a stroke and viewed as “one of the worst presidents in the American history”. The fact that Gladwell started his piece with a mistaken judgement made by the public of America rather than an insight of what he is going to talk about also set the tone for the rest of the writing. In addition to historical knowledge, Gladwell appears to possess understanding of the psychology principles behind people’s behavior. In the second section called “Blink in Black and White”, he introduces the readers to scientific terms like “implicit associations” or “Implicit Association Test”, and a group of researchers behind

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