I started reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink last week. It is an excellent read so far. The book is about how and sometimes why we think without thinking. Several aspects of the book fascinate me but I will focus on one particular issue called “priming.”
Gladwell cites a study in which two sets of African-American students are given the GRE. One set is asked there race and the other is not. The students who were not asked their race scored significantly higher than those who were asked. Earlier in the chapter Gladwell noted how we are often subconsciously queued to think in certain ways. For example, in a jumble of words where the reader had to make sentences, there were embedded words like “grey,” “bingo,” “slow,” and “Florida,” These words queued the reader into thinking about growing old. The reader did not consciously know this. However, observers noted their slow walk after the test and their feelings after further questioning.
The readers thought about growing old because a lifetime of priming by society has associated the above words with growing old or retiring. Similarly, the GRE example seems to show that a lifetime of priming by society associated underperformance with the identification of race. In this instance, associating underperformance with being an African-American. However, we all know that African-Americans can succeed and excel in all areas. As such we have to combat these false associations with our own priming. We have to prime our kids from birth for excellence. Growing up it was always expected of me to finish, not just high school, but college, and then a secondary degree. I did it without thinking because my parents and family all, knowingly or not, primed me for it. If all a child hears or sees is that he or she will be a drug dealer or pregnant single mom on welfare, then they will be primed to do so. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The State Of . . .Us can be approved personally, spiritually, and professionally with priming. Prime your kids for excellence. Prime your new marriage for long life and love by expecting nothing less than love, faithfulness, and honor. Prime yourself for success in your new job by knowing that you will succeed.
Blink is not a self help book but I think everybody can benefit from reading it.
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