Chapter 5 Summary of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Summary of Chapter 5 of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
In chapter five of Malcolm Gladwell’s, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, he takes a new twist on the idea of thin-slicing, which he describes as, “the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience” (23). Throughout the four previous chapters, he explained how thin-slicing works and how it can be useful in everyday life. However, in this chapter, offers the other side of thin-slicing, demonstrating how it cannot always be trusted. He shows how it can be also be harmful to our lives.
Sometimes humans make snap judgments about things with a very limited amount of information. Without all of the necessary information to generate a full, accurate opinion, improper judgments are often made. This is one of the ways in which thin-slicing can have a bad effect on someone’s life. The first example Gladwell used to demonstrate how thin-slicing can also be detrimental was the career of singer and songwriter, Kenna. Kenna was a very different man with a very different sound, and that is where his issues began. Because his sound was so different, people had a very hard time labeling him as any specific genre. However, professionals absolutely adored him. His songs found themselves to a talent scout and from there, to the co-president of Atlantic Records, Craig Kallman. When Kallman listened to Kenna’s songs, he immediately took a liking to him and quickly decided to bring him to New York to meet in person. When they first met, Kallman had Kenna sing for him right in front if his face, and Kallman was not disappointed. Following this success, Kenna began to become more readily noticed by people such as Danny Wimmer, who worked with the band Limpbizkit, and Paul McGuinness, the manager of U2. He also even made a music video, which made it onto MTV2. The viewers also really enjoyed his sound, and MTV2 ended up playing his song over
In chapter five of Malcolm Gladwell’s, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, he takes a new twist on the idea of thin-slicing, which he describes as, “the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience” (23). Throughout the four previous chapters, he explained how thin-slicing works and how it can be useful in everyday life. However, in this chapter, offers the other side of thin-slicing, demonstrating how it cannot always be trusted. He shows how it can be also be harmful to our lives.
Sometimes humans make snap judgments about things with a very limited amount of information. Without all of the necessary information to generate a full, accurate opinion, improper judgments are often made. This is one of the ways in which thin-slicing can have a bad effect on someone’s life. The first example Gladwell used to demonstrate how thin-slicing can also be detrimental was the career of singer and songwriter, Kenna. Kenna was a very different man with a very different sound, and that is where his issues began. Because his sound was so different, people had a very hard time labeling him as any specific genre. However, professionals absolutely adored him. His songs found themselves to a talent scout and from there, to the co-president of Atlantic Records, Craig Kallman. When Kallman listened to Kenna’s songs, he immediately took a liking to him and quickly decided to bring him to New York to meet in person. When they first met, Kallman had Kenna sing for him right in front if his face, and Kallman was not disappointed. Following this success, Kenna began to become more readily noticed by people such as Danny Wimmer, who worked with the band Limpbizkit, and Paul McGuinness, the manager of U2. He also even made a music video, which made it onto MTV2. The viewers also really enjoyed his sound, and MTV2 ended up playing his song over
Cited: Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Back Bay Books, 2007. Print.