Chapter 2 - The Locked Door

Chapter two is all about the decisions made behind the locked door of the subconsciousness. These decisions are made using the subconscious mind, so it is impossible to consciously use reasoning and logic to come up with an explanation for the decision made.

My dad has a problem with depression, and he has to take medication for the rest of his life to maintain a healthy balance of chemicals in his brain to keep him from getting depressed. One day we decided to try alternate methods of finding a solution to the problem. We visited a hypnosis clinic and my dad was hypnotized. This may sound a little far fetched, but hypnosis simply relaxes a person to the point where the person hypnotizing can reach into the subconscious mind of the person under hypnosis. There, they can unlock the door and figure out what really causes people to feel the way they do and make the decisions they make. My dad was cured of depression for several years after the hypnosis sessions, because the source of the problem was targeted. The unexplainable decisions made are locked behind the doors of the subconscious mind.

People are also primed by their environment and influences, to think a certain way subconsciously. They have no conscious control over these thoughts, but the thoughts largely help determine how they think when making snap judgments. One example of priming that Gladwell uses in Blink is when the sentences he lists include words that are associated with old people, and as a result the people participating in the activity ended up walking down the hallway slowly, which is a characteristic of old people.

Another example used in the book was when African Americans were asked to indicate their race on a standardized test, they ended up with worse results than those that were not reminded of their race. African Americans are primed to think that they are not supposed to be as smart as others due to the effects of racism. They subconsciously think they are not as capable as the average white student. As a result of their subconscious mindset, they end up doing worse on the test.

Speed dating is another activity where snap judgments are made. These decisions are also made behind locked doors. Most people could identify what they look for in a partner, yet the actual people they are attracted to hardly ever match up to the specifications they list initially. Again, people are unable to justify their decisions on why they like one person over another. They just say that they feel a connection, or that it seems right. Speed dating is another instance of decisions made subconsciously.

Due to the fact that these decisions cannot be easily justified or quantified, I believe online dating websites do not work. These sites compare people based on dozens of different dimensions, but if people are unable to identify what they are really looking for in a mate, it is impossible for a computer to accurately match them up to the right person, because computers cannot enter the human subconsciousness. This is why many of the surveys used to determine preference are indirect. They may ask whether you like Burger King or McDonalds better, or whether you like Coke or Pepsi. Although these products may seem like personal preference, a they can be used to profile people and their thought process when it comes to making decisions. They are indirect indicators of a person's personality and preference.

Chapter 3 - The Warren Harding Error

President Warren Harding was one of the best looking, yet worst presidents in American history. So why did so many people elect him to office? He did not have many credentials and he definitely didn't show signs of being a leader. He was, however, powerful looking and healthy. People jumped to the conclusion that he would make a good president. This was an error because they never looked beyond the first impression. They let their misconceptions betray them.

People have all sorts of unconscious associations with different groups of people. Often women are associated with housework more than men, and black people are seen in a negative light over white people. As a DJ spinning music at parties, most people jump to the conclusion that I am not educated well. The stereotypes go on and on. There was a case study done on car salesmen. Most salesmen profile their customers and try to spot the sucker; the person that will pay sticker price for a car. Most often they single out females and African Americans and are stubborn on price for only some groups of people. They end up losing customers because they jump to the conclusion, subconsciously, that these people will not negotiate as much as other groups. This is a dangerous error, because there are plenty of educated people that do not fit the stereotypes, and salespeople will end up losing customers by profiling and ruling out individuals.

To do so would be like a TSA agent to stop everyone that had a beard and looked Arab, because they could be potential terrorists. Terrorists are smart enough to realize that they can't go around looking like Osama Bin Laden, or they'll attract too much attention. Another interesting thing Gladwell found was that most CEOs are tall men. They are about 3 inches taller than the average man, which is no surprise. Tall, well built people appear to be more powerful, so subconsciously interviewers feel a more dominating presence, and therefore believe the person would be fit to do the job.

Chapter 4 - Paul Van Riper's Big Victory

Paul Van Riper's victory was as a result of thinking practically and not over-analyzing. The blue team was so caught up in strategy that they forgot to think practically. They never realized that although communication technology could be cut, the Red team would not need it. They had other plans.

Students at Linworth are expected to think practically. In the traditional high school environment, the curriculum is primarily focused on theoretical application of concepts learned in class. At Linworth, it is just as important to be able to practically apply concepts through using common sense. There are all sorts of smart people in the world that fail at the simplest things. Just a few weeks ago, I had to build a motor for an A.P. Physics project. The motor was built perfectly in theory, but I had a wire in the way that would keep the armature from turning properly. The motor did not work, and as a result there was a 25% deduction to my grade. A large portion of the class could not get their motors to work. Most of these students were the ones that were relatively smart but not hands-on.

One of the reasons over-analyzing can cause people to make ill-informed decisions is that when you have too many options, you end up confusing yourself and going back and forth instead of making a decision. The case of heart attacks in the hospital was a great example of how too much information could actually throw doctors off. Also too many options for the jam at the supermarket confused the customers.

With my consumer electronics website, TheGigStore.com, I once had over 25,000 products on the website. I realized that there were too many options for products. If you wanted a video cable, there would be 5 different brands selling the same thing. There would be 3 different quality levels, and a wide range of prices for each product. The more options the customers had, the more confused they became. Eventually, I decided to select only about 200 products and keep the website very simple. Sales increased dramatically in a short period of time.

So many people wonder: Is it possible to prepare yourself to make the right decision in the blink of an eye? I believe it is possible to be correct most of the time, as long as you set guidelines for misconceptions or stereotypes that my not be true. After passing through a few simple filters, it is up to your instinct, or "gut feeling" to quickly make the right decision.

Posted in Posted by Umang Patel at 12:06 AM