9/15/14: Gladwell, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Ch. 3-The Warren Harding Error: Why we fall for tall, dark, and handsome men

The chapter opens by describing Warren Harding in a shoe-shining shop as a man of amazing proportions, handsome, jet black hair, tall, "roman"esque, with a bronze complexion, tipping generously to imply generosity and friendliness, kindly giving his seat up to the next person to suggest agreeableness of character, etc.  The superman.  The man describing him looked at him and thought, "Wouldn't that man make a great president?"

Now, Harding wasn't particularly intelligent.  He played poker, drank, and loved to chase women.  His speeches were never great because he was vague and ambivalent on important issues.  He didn't participate in the debates on women's suffrage and prohibition when he was in the senate in 1914, which were the two biggest issues.  But he kept advancing in politics because Harry Daugherty (the man in the shoe shop who described him) pushed him to and because as he got older he looked more and more distinguished.  He pushed him to run for the white house in 1920 against Harding's judgment because Daugherty thought he would be a "great-looking president".  He ended up actually getting elected because the Republican Party Bosses needed a candidate they could all agree on.  He served two years as President of the United States and then died of a stroke.  He was arguably one of the worst presidents in American history.  

1.  The Dark Side of Thin-Slicing

Gladwell goes on to explain that our snap judgments about things are usually correct--even if we have nothing to support them.  Once you "thin-slice" things, you can make sure that that judgment was correct.  But in the case of Warren Harding, that snap judgment was the end of the line of thinking, and no one thin-sliced long enough to realize he would be a terrible president.  This is at the root of prejudices today.  

2. Blink in Black and White

Explains the IAT (Implicit Association Test).  It pairs female with career, and male with family and you have to put the right words in the right category and it's hard.  He took the race IAT and found out he has a moderate immediate preference for whites.  He was mortified.  Took it like 4 times, but it didn't change.  This is important because these subconscious feelings are manifest in the way we act around black people.  We might be a little more closed, a little less friendly, etc.  People pick up on this and then act standoffish and the cycle goes on and on.  Same goes for Tall people.  We treat tall people more positively than short people.  Most CEO's of large companies are just short of 6', which is 3 in above the average american male height.  He says being short is as much of a handicap as being a woman or african-american.

3. Taking Care of the Customer

Bob Golomb is a car salesman virutoso, selling about 20 cars a month in his business.  He has to thin slice every customer who comes in to read their dynamic and mirror it to connect on their level.  His biggest rules are take care of the customer!!  He calls them the day after they stop by to thank them for coming, he checks in on people who bought cars to make sure they're satisfied, etc.  He never judges anyone on the basis of their appearance.  He treats everyone who walks in as if they have the same chance of buying a car that day.  

4.  Spotting the Sucker

Ian Ayres conducted a study where he sent white men, white women, black men, and black women who were all dressed the same, groomed equally, equally attractive, etc. into car shops to haggle a price down on the lowest car in the showroom.  It turned out that white males got the best deal and the black males got the worst deal (surprise).  The salesmen try to spot the sucker.  He thinks it's an unconscious association with blacks and women as "suckers", so the salesmen make a split decision and stop thinking after that, even though they hear that these people are college-educated and not suckers at all.  Golomb quotes everyone the same price, regardless of physical appearance, and it works for him.  

5.  Think about Dr. King

If you look at pictures of heroic black people, it will be a lot easier to associate good with blacks on the IAT.  That's how we change our first impressions.  We change the experiences we have that compromise those impressions.  Become familiar with the good in other cultures so you become more comfortable around them.  Change the way we thin-slice!