Blink Malcolm Gladwell Analysis

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell explores the idea of “thin-slicing,” which is the act of the brain only using a small bit of information to make a decision. These types of snap judgements are sometimes thought to be inferior to well thought out and studied decisions. Gladwell shows that well researched decisions are not always better decisions. Rapid cognition, or “thin-slicing,” is observed in many cultures and is used by many people around the world. In some ways, one can make the case that “thin-slicing” is derived from nature, and is not affected by one’s environment. It is performed by the unconscious brain and therefore not under one’s control. Since one sometimes can not control how their brain senses patterns and uses that information, there has to be something going on in the brain, not affected by outside sources, that makes judgments.
Vic Braden, a tennis coach, was able to sense if a player was going to double fault seconds before the player did exactly that. He is not sure how he knew, but he was able to predict double faults with over ninety-four percent accuracy.
The Times argues in their article “Do You Have Free Will? Yes, It’s the Only Choice” that free will probably does not exist but people are better off believing in it. The article discusses a study done by Dr. Kathleen Vohs that concludes “the higher the [test subjects] scored on the scale of belief in free will, the better their ratings on the job.” The Atlantic’s article “There’s No Such Thing as Free Will” suggests that free will does not exist but also shows that people who believe in free will are less stressed and more creative. Both articles share the idea that free will makes people more optimistic. Believing in free will gives people the idea that people can make good decisions. It lets people believe that morality exists and people are able to make good decisions on their