Afterword

Afterword

blink has given me much to think about in relation to my own actions and that of others. Ultimately, I conclude that we all would like to be expert thin slicers as this is necessary in perhaps every field I can think of as well as for daily living. However, "being able to act intelligently and instinctively in the moment is possible only after a long and rigorous course of education and experience." While I do not expect my GED students to leave my classroom as experts, I do however, hope that they go more equipped than they arrived. One thing that I can do is to make them more aware of their own unconscious snap judgements so that they have a better awareness of both themselves and others.

Teaching my students to be deep thinkers and observers rather than overwhelming them with information will serve them better, especially when it comes to thin slicing. In today's world we have become inundated with information in such a way that, "we have come to confuse information with understanding." But, the most valuable is to be able to dissect information and use it properly in a situation.

Lessons from blink:

• Education and experience help us to make intelligent and instinctive snap judgements.
• "Understanding the true nature of instinctive decision making requires us to be forgiving of those people trapped in circumstances where good judgement is imperiled."
• Too much information can be damaging "confuse information with understanding."
• When do we trust instincts and when should we rely on analysis? 
• Use practical problem solving

Call to Action: 

"It is not enough simply to explore the hidden recesses of our unconscious. Once we know about how the mind works- and about the strengths and weaknesses of human judgement- it is our responsibility to act."    

HOW WILL YOU ACT?

WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY?

Conclusion

Conclusion

The book concludes with an example highlighting the importance of understanding the power of rapid cognition or snap judgements and what influences them. In the conclusion we look at the world of classical music, a traditionally male dominated world, where snap judgements during auditions occur regularly. Until blind auditions began, women were considered less powerful instrumentalists and were sparsely represented in orchestras. Since the visual element of auditions has been removed and the conductors have had to rely solely on the sound, "...the number of women in the top U.S. orchestras has increased fivefold." These conductors were forced to acknowledge a broken system after being, as Gladwell phrases,"...so oblivious to the corruption of their snap judgements." And, what was the result? The process for selecting musicians was changed as a result. In other words, they moved in a direction that allowed them to control the environment in which rapid cognition (snap judgements) takes place. 

How does this relate to me and my teaching? For me, it means that I need to be more aware of my actions as a teacher and my responses to students.....what influences them? What can I change in the environment that will make my snap judgements more pure? 

I also think about what I can do for my students to help them see beyond their snap judgements. I present information differently in the classroom, I try to create a learning environment and experience that departs from what they have known previously, and I help them to analyze their snap judgements. Really, we learn from each other. 

Can you think of any examples of how you have in the past or would like to change the environment in order to impact rapid cognition? 

Ch. 6 Part II- Taking it all in

 Taking It All In

Chapter 6 goes on to provide example of how we, as people, mind read or "thin slice" to make sense of the world and people in different kinds of situations. The examples that I summarize below were especially captivating to me:

1- Silvan Tomkins and his student, Tom Ekman, both enthralled with the face and the information that could be gleaned from an expression, spent years researching and fine tuning their ability to read people. Ekman set out to what he called, "unpack the face." Ekman discovered that the face reveals what is going on in our minds and often has a mind of its own, revealing raw emotions. So, really, as Gladwell points out, we are all mind readers in a sense. We pick up on these expressions or clues, using them to size up a situation or person.  

           Have you ever read into a person or situation based solely on facial expressions? I can think of the first time that I met my husband and the immediate feeling of comfort and trust that he exuded simply with a glance. On the other hand, I can recall meeting a co-worker for the first time and the furrowed brow that made no one want to sit at her table. I wonder how often I don't even realize that I am using facial expressions to thin slice.

2- A couple examples are shared to demonstrate Dave Grossman's (former army lieutenant colonel and author) theory of stress on performance. He argues that there is an optimal level in which stress indicated by an elevated heart rate improves performance but then under cases of extreme stress, it becomes more dangerous. When under tremendous stress, the body reacts by limiting the information we can take in and instead focuses on the most imminent threat. This means that we don't hear as well, see as well, or even process as fast. Our senses dull and out bodies react purely to protect us from attack. Grossman says that this is why police and really any other professionals in high stress situations must train, and train more. These reactions must become second nature so that when the senses are dulled, one can make decisions based upon the training. 

Now, I return to the Diallo case from my previous post and think, did the extreme stress cause this officer to receive limited information? Did his training fail? Or, was it what he fell back on when his senses were limited? 

Do you have an example of a time where time slowed down for you in a moment of extreme stress and you felt as though you lost use of some of your senses? Did you have to rely on prior experience/ practice? 

Ch. 6 Part I -Mind Reading

Mind Reading

This chapter explores the difference between mind reading and thin slicing. The first example that the author introduces highlights the dangers of mind reading in conjunction with prior experience. The story unfolds of a night in the bronx when police officers in an unmarked car and jeans identify a "suspicious looking" man. The man, Mr. Diallo, with limited English skills, gets scared when police approach him and runs for his apartment. Police pursue him and one officer mistakes the suspects black wallet for a gun, firing shots and setting off gunfire from several officers. The total of 41shots resulted in the death of Mr. Diallo. When the lead officer discovered that what he thought to be a gun was in fact a wallet, he broke into tears. " My prior experience  and training, my prior arrests, dictated to me that this person was pulling a gun" said officer Carroll. This example illustrates the dangers of what Galdwell calls, "mind reading failures."  Officer Carroll misinterpreted Diallo's behaviors based upon his previous experience in the field; his thin slicing led him into a dangerous situation.

*Click here for the  Ny Times article  that describes the shooting

So, this brings me to the question...how do I get a balance between teaching students to thin slice and keeping them aware of the exceptions to the rule? 

Ch. 5 Part II- Decoding Snap Judgements

Decoding Snap Judgements

The book continues on with examples of the power of snap judgements with examples of Pepsi's Challenge and The Chair of Death, two examples that demonstrate how dangerous a snap judgement can be. In the case of Pepsi, the issue was the context of the snap judgement and the negative opinion of the Aeron Chair was because people had not seen anything like it before and therefore were unsure of it. Because of these snap judgements, Pepsi and the Aeron chair took years to get the response they wanted.

How can we learn to "decode" what is behind these snap judgements/ first impressions? Experts like those mentioned in the book have created through their experience and training what Gladwell terms a "database in the unconscious". He says, "we become experts at using our behavior and training to interpret and decode what hides behind our snap judgements and first impressions."

So, how do I change the first impressions of my students so that they are not blinded by their snap judgements? Gladwell argues that experience and passion have the power to change impressions and build this database that will be unconsciously accessed. As an instructor, I need to create experiences that take my students out of their comfort zone and introduce them to different ways of thinking.


The science article, Why First Impressions Are Difficult to Change By: Rick Nauert Ph.D, explains how much weight these first impressions hold and how they must be challenged in order to break them down. 
                   According to Dr. Nauert, "What is necessary is for the first impression to be challenged in                    multiple different contexts. In that case, new experiences become decontextualized and                        the first impression will slowly lose its power. But, as long as a first impression is                                challenged only within the same context, you can do whatever you want. The first                                impression will dominate regardless of how often it is contradicted by new experiences."

Can anyone share an example of how their snap judgements have been challenged by an experience? Were you able to over ride that initial impression in the future?

Ch. 5- Part 1 The Right and Wrong Way to Ask People What They Want

Where Do First Impressions Come From?

How many times have you heard that fist impressions are extremely important? According to Business Insider, it takes around 7 seconds to formulate a first impression of someone. The danger in this is that often these first impressions are hard to break.

Listen to this NPR segment, You Had Me At Hello: The Science Behind First Impressions, on how first impressions about personality and character can be determined solely based on an individuals voice. While there, be sure to listen to the voice clips to test your own first impression.

The example that is highlighted throughout the chapter focuses on an up and coming rock musician, Kenna, who has had success in music but never hit it "big time". While some major record company leaders and musicians (those who truly know music) immediately loved his music, others were skeptical of the unclassifiable genre. When Kenna's music was sent to research firms for testing, the results were not in his favor and ultimately he was considered too much of a risk for big labels. Below is one of Kenna's songs that was tested based on a 1-4 scale with 1 being dislike. This song rated a 1.3 with rock station listeners and a .8 with R&B. Listen and make your own first impression.

How would you rate the song on a 1-4 scale? Did you have a hard time classifying it? I wondered what perhaps influenced the sub-par reactions to this song.

Ch. 3-4 Snap Judgements and Spontaneity

Chapter 3: The Warren Harding Error 

AKA The Danger of Thin-Slicing

      The highlighted example of Warren Harding as a presidential failure demonstrates how snap judgements can blind us to the truth. Harding was quite literally the "picture" of a presidential candidate and the people were so enthralled with him that they overlooked evidence to the contrary. Harding went on to be one of the worst presidents in history but he sure looked good while doing it. Gladwell illustrates what he calls, "the dark side of thin-slicing", where sizing someone up in the blink of an eye leads us astray. He discusses that we all have deeply rooted attitudes about race, gender, etc. that operate on an unconscious level, creeping into decisions that we make.
      I thought about this with my student base, realizing that each individual comes with his or her own preconceptions about me, peers, and even ideas. So, what can we do to change these impressions? Gladwell proposes that we tackle the root of the problem; our experiences and environment. If we introduce new experiences and change our environments that counter our impressions then we can slowly affect change.

How can I do this with my students?

• Introduce them to perspectives that are different from their own
• Have them engage with people who are different from them
• Expand the teaching environment beyond the classroom setting

Ultimately, to promote any type of deeper transformation, I need to provide students with learning experiences that perhaps take them out of their comfort zone and challenge them to reflect on their existing beliefs.

Chapter 4: Creating Structure for Spontaneity

This entire chapter made me re-think the way I use the word spontaneous. The dictionary defines this to mean: "coming or resulting from a natural impulse or tendency; without effort or premeditation; natural and unconstrained; unplanned". However, Galdwell shares that, "When experts make decisions, they don't logically and systematically compare all available options." Instead, they make decisions based on their experience and intuition. They process decisions quickly using mental simulations which are based on previous experiences, in other words, their training and rehearsal. 

So, how do we create conditions within students for successful spontaneity? 

- Don't overload them with information

- Emphasize the process as much as the outcome

- Allow for reflection on how they came to their decision/outcome

- Active learning ( rehearsal) 

Can you think of anything you do that is second nature or a decision you have made that would be described as "going with your gut"? If you take the time to reflect on this, can you pin point previous experiences that have contributed to your ability to "think fast" or be spontaneous?