Do you understand the true power in your mind? Unconsciously we have an extraordinary capability to analyze problems, eliminate variables and choose the most appropriate solution to the circumstances in which we are. The potential found in the hidden corners of our unconscious, that is according to the author of the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. This author, has shown that snap judgments and first impressions we make on someone are as reasonable as if we had observed a long time, provided we have proven experience in evaluating these situations. We are able to master the ability to reach conclusions faster, able to make snap judgments based on accurate information, and decide to take action. Gladwell introduces the concept "thin-slicing", act with thin slices of experience. Also, this ability can be corrupted by the preferences, opinions, and often unaware stereotypes. Even the most complex situations, the author says, someone can read without delay if it can identify underlying patterns. Leveraging this knowledge, we can analyze the mistakes from the past, to build a better present, and develop new strategies to solve problems that can occur the future. Evaluate only the ability of the individual. Meanwhile, have the responsibility to act using the tools acquired. In conclusion, education and experience are the key ingredients of success. Pino 2 Blink is a book that makes us reflect on unconscious resources that we have, those resources are available to us in order to improve as a person. As a rule, recognize the true value and the capacity of a person only for their skills. Often we do not recognize the prejudices we possess, and we do not want to admit that we judge different a person by their appearance. Th... ... middle of paper ... ...presence, prejudices and beliefs as sources of error of judgment, we must examine our first experiences. Because the idea that we need a lot of information to trust our judgments may be inaccurate. Often the effort to achieve this additional information gives us the illusion of certainty, makes us more vulnerable to error. Now, all rapid cognition must be based on our experience needed of cultural preset ideas. Like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.” Pino 6 Works Cited Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: the Power of Thinking without Thinking. New YorK (etc.): Back Bay, 2005. "Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Quotes." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2010. Web. 25 May 2010. .
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Show More“The subtlest and most pervasive of all influences ere those which create and maintain the repertory of stereotypes. We are told about the world before we see it. We imagine most things before we experience them. And those preconceptions, unless education has made us acutely aware, govern deeply the whole process of perception. They mark out certain objects as familiar or strange, emphasizing the difference, so that the slightly familiar is seen as very familiar, and the somewhat strange as sharply alien” (Lippmann
Everyday people are judged based on their appearance. We need to learn to look beyond a person’s physical image. In the young adult fiction piece If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson, the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and the realistic fiction novel The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls, the authors illustrate how individuals face prejudice based on their appearance, race, gender, and social class.
Gladwell uses a wide variety of different examples that range from marriages to Law enforcement and everywhere in between. He seeks to revolutionize the way we attack problems
As long as civilized societies have existed, hypocrisy and discrimination have been an unassailable piece of each of them. A punishment for an offense has always been determined by the severity of the action, which inherently depends on the culture of the people. However, the presence of some level of judgement of others has remained inevitable. Many would like to ask the question “Why does this feeling of entitlement to pass judgement exist when everything is subjective to each person’s own morals?” One might ponder that very enigmatic phenomenon. However, this essay will focus on why and how a person should overcome the inevitable mistakes they will make in their lifetime. The word itself seems much too cliche, but as these literary
Often in my life I have felt trapped by the boundaries and expectations that those around me have set for how I ought to behave, think, and feel. Here in suburban America, these boundaries are often set by peers and family, as well as by the media and celebrity figures. The expectations that they have set often dictate ideas that, deep down, I greatly disagree with. One of the most prominent of the ideas is that my worth is reflected in my outward physical appearance. In this world which has declared war on th...
Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking . In M. Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking . New York, NY : Little, Brown and Company.
Looks cannot inform anyone of what a person feels or is capable of. In an article about a woman on a talent show, the audience laughed at the contestant when she stated that she wanted to be a professional singer, without hearing her sing. Following the rude outburst of laughter she confidently continued, “When she began to sing, their expectations and their judgments were proven to be completely wrong. Not only could she sing, but she proved herself to be an extraordinarily talented person in a quite ordinary body.” (Sanchez, P3) This 47 year old women proved to a lot of people that a person must discover and respect people’s qualities before judging them, because they may be
Although we may not realize it, we often times have the sincere belief that we truly do know someone, simply by looking at them. By looking at them, and viewing their external attributes, such as the way that they dress and look, we assume that we know who they really are. However, truly knowing someone goes beyond what they look like on the outside. Victor’s instant judging of Teresa is portrayed when he communicates to the reader, “She was cute. And good at math too” (Soto 1). Victor genuinely thinks that he knows Teresa, and therefore likes her. However, he does not really know who she is as a person. He simply thinks that he knows who she is based off of observing the way she looks and acts. By making the common mistake of judging one’s external attributes, we automatically make the assumption that we know who they are. This common misconception causes for people to no longer try to get to know someone better, because they feel as if they already accurately know who they are. Victor’s judging of Teresa lead him to falsely believe that he knew her and loved her. Due to this, he no longer feels the need to get to sincerely know who she is, because he feels as if her external features define her, and give him an authentic view of who she is. Although we may not realize it, as humans, we often times make assumptions and judge others by the
It is heard throughout all of the elementary school classrooms, recited by teachers and parents alike. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” they say. However, most people chanting off that age-old saying fail to admit that they do, “judge a book by its cover” more than they recognize. And for the most part, first impressions can scream volumes about a person’s character and values. Some people choose not to conform to societal standards of appearance, and like to express themselves through physical means like tattoos, piercings, and crazy hair colors. Others choose to conform to society’s standards, relying on other modes of self-expression to stay true to themselves.
Perception is part of human nature. Human beings started to perceive the world since they were born. Chen & Starosta (1998) states that human perception is a process of sensing the world by using human brain. This process is firmly influenced by a person’s first culture, which means people interpret the meaning of other’s behavior based on their cultural backgrounds and personal experiences. Scollon and Scollon (2001) state based on perceptions, people make assumptions about the other people and then choose the appropriate communicative style in order to reduce confusion and avoid miscommunication. Therefore, I agree that people ‘make significant assumption about what kind of a person the other person is and what kind of a person (they) would like us to think of them as being’ no matter in one’s homeland or a foreign country (Scollon and Scollon, 2001, p35). Making assumption seems a natural process, which unconsciously influenced by one’s cultural backgrounds and first language during the first and secondary socialization. However, when people communicate with people from different cultures, they need to think carefully about the assumptions they made, because some negative consequences could happen from holding stereotype from one’s first language and culture. Thus, we need to learn how to discard stereotype and to be an effective communicator.
That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow. Influences in one’s daily life can affect one’s perception. As I have learned all throughout my life, perception is everything. Sometimes, it may not be apparent that something or someone is judged based on how one perceives another, but it has an impact. Experiences also play a role in perception because people tend to generalize knowledge that they have acquired through learning or past encounters which they vividly recall.
Physical appearance is often the first characteristic seen in others that induces judgment, since it is prevalently, outwardly displa...
In a world in which people are so often judged by how they look, the
It has occurred once or severally that people from different joints use physical impressions to make overall judgments about a particular object, subject or a person. However, it is paramount noting that the outward appearance could be misleading and may not necessarily represent what is concealed in the particular object or subject in question. This kind of misjudgment gives rise to the concept of the ‘Halo Effect.’ The ‘halo effect’ is expressed as the aspect of different individuals using universal assessments while trying to arrive at a final judgment regarding a particular set of qualities (Yeffeth, & Thomason, 2006). For instance, people may attribute good qualities such as kind and outgoing to people who are
Appearance matters because some facial qualities are useful in guiding adaptive behavior that even a trace of those qualities can create an impression. Specifically, the qualities revealed by facial cues that characterize emotion and identity, which are overgeneralized to people whose facial appearance resembles the unfit. Although people tend to admonish the statement ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, they also repeatedly defy that warning in their day to day routines, responding to people on the basis of their physical