TOW #4 "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

Blink, a book written by the renowned psychologist Malcolm Gladwell, is about “The power of Thinking without Thinking.”  The book goes into how when we look at a person for the first time we unconsciously judge the person. Mr. Gladwell has written many New York Times bestseller books and is renowned for brining the unknown into the public’s eyes. He writes this book for a large audience. Malcolm Gladwell wanted this book for the masses to read in order for them to be educated. His purpose for writing this book would be to inform the reader about how people unconsciously judge one another. He is not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing, Malcolm Gladwell is merely explaining the concept in the book so far. He has used many sources and credible data supporting the fact that people judge one another. There is one test that Malcolm Gladwell uses to demonstrate how we associate certain things with different types of people. It is called the Implicit Association Test (IAT), or a test where the reader has to look at one column and put what they believe in 20 seconds goes in that column. The IAT quizzes you on good white people and bad black people. In 20 seconds your subconscious comes out and it can be surprising thing to find out what your subconscious really thinks. Malcolm Gladwell also references the Korus fiasco. This was a time when the Getty Museum bought a fake sixth century Korus piece believed to be real at the time. Many people who examined the piece thought that it was the “real deal”. However, there were some skeptics that looked at the piece, and in a blink, knew that it was a fake. After having bought the piece the museum later found out that the piece was indeed a fake. I believe that Malcolm Glad well did a great job so far in achieving his purpose. He has provided tests and stories of how we judge others with out us knowing.