Blog 2- Introduction: The Statue That Didn’t Look Right

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, Introduction: The Statue That Didn’t Look Right

This chapter takes place in the Getty Museum, located in California.  The museum is looking to purchase a statue, which is known as a Kouros.  This statue supposedly is dated from the sixth century BC and is selling for 10 million dollars.  The museum spends many months on research, and tests, to validate the authenticity of this statue, that they were planning on purchasing.  After extensive research, they decide to purchase the statue.  The museum, proudly displayed the statue. Many people were attracted to seeing the statue, and a few people who studied these types of statues knew right away that there was something wrong with it and it was not authentic.  “In the first two seconds of looking-in a single glance- they were able to understand more about the essence of the statue than the team at the Getty was able to understand after fourteen months”. 

I find this chapter to be very stimulating, since it took the museum over a year to do research on the statue, when in a matter of seconds it took a person with the right expertise to see right away that the statue was a hoax.   The message of the importance of knowledge and expertise can save a lot of time and money, especially for the Getty Museum. If the Getty Museum consulted with the right expert, they would have known within a ‘blink of an eye’ that the statue was not authentic.   ‘The power of thinking’ is really important for success, so that the right choices are made and the right people are hired to get the job done.