Review

A congregation will come into contact with various genre of literature, audio and videos that will present both possibility and challenge to the discipleship process. It is necessary to be able to pick up media from various disciplines and engage them critically and creatively in order to discern the content that is relevant for discipleship. It is with this task in mind that the popular work of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink has been taken up for review. This review will address a summation of Malcom’s work along with how his work intersects with Wesleyan discipleship.

Goal

The methodology of Gladwell is inductive in nature as he calls the reader to abstain from looking at the grand scheme of things and asks them to venture into the particular in hopes of discovering our reasoning process. For Gladwell asserts that, “Blink is concerned with…the content and origin of those instantaneous impressions and conclusions that spontaneously arise.”¹? Furthermore he theorizes that if we examined those moments then we could “change the ways wars are fought, the kinds of products we see on the shelves, the kinds of movies that get made, the way police officers are trained…And if we were to combine all of those little changes, we would end up with a different and better world.”² Therefore Gladwell takes up the examination of our split second decisions by which he finds a powerful mechanism, rapid cognition, that can be trained to provide for a “different and better world.”

One issue that is prominent throughout the work is that Gladwell does not assert a trajectory or reference point by which he can describe a “different and better world”. In various places he makes hints toward a modern liberal framework from which he affirms food, furniture and music choices that are made by experts rather then consumer testing and feedback alone. He is also concerned with racial and gender equality throughout and affirms practices that can change our initial reaction to seeing a person in a more egalitarian perspective. However, he is never explicate about his framework and thus one is left guessing at what his vision on a “different and better world” is really all about.

Wesleyan discipleship affirms the exploration of truth in the various disciplines. For Wesley though being a “man of one book” was dedicated to a liberal education which included works from the sciences and literature. Therefore, Gladwell’s work of exploring the “instantaneous impressions and conclusions” via research in neuroscience, psychology, sociology and more is affirmed from a Wesleyan perspective. Gladwell’s assertion that we can change those impressions and conclusions is also in line with a Wesleyan anthropology. For Wesleyan’s assert that persons can be transformed mentally as will be examined at a later point. The point of departure between Gladwell’s thesis and a Wesleyan goal of discipleship is the trajectory and framework for discerning the “different and better world.” For Wesleyan’s the goal of discipleship is discerned within the context of a Christian community which has a christological orientation with a “New Creation” trajectory.³ Since Gladwell does not explicitly state his framework and trajectory and hints at a modern liberal framework then some of his suggestions for change must be critiqued.

Thin Slicing

In the first two chapters, Gladwell puts forth what he proposes as a capacity of rapid cognition called “thin slicing” and the scientific research that gives a partial explanation for the processes that constitute this ability. Gladwell states, “Thin-slicing refers to the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience.”⁴ He illustrates this ability through John Gottman’s SPAFF code which can predict, with a high degree of probability, from a short interview with a couple if their relationship will last a lifetime or end in divorce. Gladwell argues that what makes “thin slicing” so powerful is that it can lead to a decision with only processing a small amount on information. Furthermore the accuracy of “thin slicing” can be found when you train yourself to pick up on only the necessary or important information.

Following from the previous chapter, Gladwell explains the research that shows that the rapid cognition ability of “thin slicing” is possible because it is derived from the functions of the “unconscious” mind. Gladwell uses the term “unconscious” here to refer to those functions of the brain that Joseph LeDoux describes as being informed by implicit memory.⁵? Gladwell presents Vic Braden a tennis coach who can predict a double fault with a high percentage of accuracy but can’t explain how he can do it. Gladwell also presents Anthony Damasio’s “Iowa Gambling” experiments as another example and an explanation of the brain functions behind this type of decision making ability. He ends by explaining that our ability to “thin slice” is dependent on our emotions as proved by Damasio’s work but can not be consciously accessed for intricate understanding.

Markham posits a larger concept called automaticy of which Gladwell’s “thin slicing” is just one part. For Markham automaticy is the concept that “a great deal of human behavior occurs ‘automatically’ outside of conscious control (or at least conscious activation).”?⁶? Markham shows that these behaviors are often initiated by goals which have been previously learned.⁷ For Markham sees that discipleship and Wesleyan discipleship in particular needs to change the cognitive states/goals/character of a person in order to change their behavior.⁸ Therefore Gladwell’s “thin slicing” as being one part of the concept of automaticy is important in understanding character formation in the discipleship process.

Errors and Benefits in Thin Slicing

The following chapters of Gladwell’s work presents three unique lessons on “thin slicing” which present the errors that can occur with this type of decision making ability and the ways to overcome these errors. First Gladwell presents what he calls the “Warren Harding Error”. He posits that the choice of Warren Harding as president was failure on the part of “thin slicing” for Harding was an impressive looking man but was an inexperienced and incompetent president. Another example of this type of error is racism for Gladwell. He shows how we are making snap judgments on people based on their skin color.  Though we consciously find racism repulsive we all to often unconsciously allow it to orient our decisions about people and interactions with them.

The next lesson Gladwell explains about “thin slicing” is that in life situations where quick decisions need to be made “thin slicing” can be a powerful and an accurate tool for information analysis. He puts forth the examples of war and emergency room situations. In these situations of high stress where life and death hang on the decisions of people on a regular basis the accumulation of information and analysis does not always prove to be beneficial.

The third lesson that Gladwell explains concerning “thin slicing” is that expertise is key to understanding how one can train the knowledge that informs “thin slicing”. He presents the examples of a talented unknown musician, an “ugly” office chair and food tasting. In all the examples, he shows how the untrained person makes a decision that they describe as “bad”, “ugly” or “disgusting” but that an expert decides what is “beautiful” or “comfortable”. His point is that the expert has learned a language, and more importantly a knowledge, that can allow them to “thin slice” between what is bad and what is different. Gladwell concludes that the different may be beneficial to the untrained person but they would just need time to learn the value of the commodity.

Gladwell’s description of the potential errors and benefits with “thin slicing” and finally the way to develop the skill of “thin slicing” connects with the Wesleyan discipleship emphasis on formative practices. Continuing Markham’s treatment of automaticy above, he explains that to change a behavior to a Christian behavior/virtue cannot occur through cognitive understanding alone.⁹ He invokes John Bickle who explains that, “One must perform the appropriate actions repeatedly to acquire the moral virtues. Theogy and argument—narratives, both internal and verbally expressed—won’t suffice.”¹⁰ Therefore Markham promotes the cognitive engagement of the material and formative practice which done repeatedly will produce the type of cognitive change that is required for behavioral change. To bring this back to Gladwell, it can be observed that what Gladwell promotes as the way to overcome errors and gain the benefits of “thin slicing” is by becoming an expert or one who has repeated cognitive and physical engagement with particular content. Thus Wesleyan discipleship would embrace Gladwell’s research but it must be emphasized that the goal of each are different.

Time Is Not On Our Side

In the final chapter’s, Gladwell presents two unique challenges to “thin slicing”. The first is extremely short periods of time for decision making (sometimes milliseconds and sometimes a few seconds) to make high stress decisions. The second issue is ignorance to how we are effected by snap judgments. He gives the example of gender discrimination in the field of classical music.

For the first issue Gladwell attempts to give a solution which is more training but it is not a convincing argument. The second issue is to intentionally develop a practice that blocks ones ability to make a snap judgment. In the example that Gladwell gives, a screen was placed between those holding the audition and the performer so that the only criteria that could be observed was the ability of the performer.

This final issue raised by Gladwell is affirmed by Welseyan discipleship as a transformative practice. A transformative practice in part is an act of mercy which recognizes inequalities that are a reality then works to circumvent or destroy that inequality. Gladwell’s example of taking the inequality of gender discrimination out of the picture by the practice of placing a screen between the performer and interviewers is an excellent example of a transformative practice.

Conclusion

Though Gladwell’s ultimate goal is not in line with Wesleyan discipleship, his approach to changing how people act and make decisions has several affinities with Wesleyan discipleship. Gladwell’s work is a quality resource to have as a discussion piece on the formation of behavior for people in the church. His recognition of our decision making process, the experts ability to use “thin slicing” and a transformative practice presented at the end are all points that can produce quality dialogue for change within a congregation.

1Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Back Bay Books, 2007), 16.

2Gladwell, 16-17.

3 Combining both insights from Chilicote and Blevins for the purpose of understanding the orientation and goal of discipleship.

4Gladwell, 23.

5Joseph LeDoux, Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are (Penguin (Non-Classics), 2003) 98-99.

6Paul N. Markham, Rewired: Exploring Religious Conversion (Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2007) 149.

7Markham, 151.

8Markham, 152-153.

9Ibid.

10Ibid.

A personal story that I have told a number of times in the young adult Sunday School class that I teach concerns my families sorted history with the Book of Revelation.  It began when some of my family members were scared into the faith by some preacher who used the The Revelation of Jesus Christ as a tool of fear instead of hope.  I know now that my family members were not alone in their fear of the future because their generation felt the full force of this type of evangelistic fear mongering (just check out this video).

When my father and I were converted to Christianity in my teen years, we had conversations on The Revelation.  And with our families hurt as a constant reminder, the final point of our conversations would always be, “Don’t worry about what is going to happen just trust Christ and faithfully serve him.”  It was sold advice but it left me feeling scared to engage The Book of Revelation because I didn’t want to begin to worry about the Antichrist, the mark of the beast, rapture (post-trib or pre-trib), and the list could go on.

The root issue, which I was not able to identify until I had almost completed my graduate work some 10 years later, was that my family was operating within a particular hermeneutic tradition.  Specifically, my family was scared into the faith by those in the Dispensationalist tradition who operated out of a speculative eschatology when engaging The Revelation.  Therefore, it was grace to me when I realized that the church had not always read the Book of Revelation that way.

That is why I am excited about Dan Boone’s book, “Answers for Chicken Little: A No-Nonsense Look at the Book of Revelation”.  This easy to read and entertaining book is a perfect resource for reengaging The Revelation with those who have been raised in a dispensationalist tradition.  I have personally read the book 4 times and I am currently teaching a young adult class with this as the main resource.  Here are some of the comments that I have gotten back about the resource from 20 somethings.

“I have never learned so much about The Book of Revelation.”

“I extremely enjoy the Book of Revelation, now.  I have learned a lot.”

“This is my first class on the Book of Revelation and I have enjoyed learning about it.”

And here is a comment from my dad after he read the book:

“I never knew the Book of Revelation addressed so many issues that we deal with today.”
“It is freeing to know that John wrote the book to encourage hope and not to produce fear.  It never made sense that God would intend to scare us with the book and now I know that wasn’t the purpose of it.”

I think the book is great to read on your own, use as a Bible study guide, or discuss in a small group.  If you have never engaged The Revelation or have been too scared then check out this resource.  It is truly a means of grace.

Blessings.