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?
I guess I come back to my own thoughts from earlier in this blog - about how I seem to make a less-than-ideal first impression. In many ways, I guess I wish I could have a "blind audition" in my work settings!
ReplyDeleteOne thing that comes to mind is the power of the internet in creating that "audition screen" as we interact with others. I suppose that the internet and online learning (for example) allow us to "filter" what we present to others, even basic aspects of our "identity" such as gender and race. That creates a certain freedom to control people's snap judgments of us, I suppose.
Mike, good point about the "blindness" of online learning. While for many this can be a negative that prevents a feeling of connectedness, it also in turn can be to our benefit in that our work and presence is recognized with less judgement.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of a "blind audition" and its impact on the number of women in US orchestras is very interesting. It would be interesting to see if there was a difference in who was hired in any given job between people interviewed face-to-face and a blind interview.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting point about online learning is that everyone has the ability to decide themselves how much of themselves they reveal to others or whether something is pertinent to the situation.