Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I am not sure whether this book can be tagged as ‘entertaining’ or ‘informational’. Maybe both. Maybe neither of them.
The book drives the point that our thoughts and decisions made from split-second impressions may actually be more relevant than inferences based on heaps data over long periods of time. This phenomenon is called ‘thin-slicing’ and is based on extensive research done by the expert behavioral psychologist Nalini Ambady.
The first part of the book goes a long way to explain why ‘blink’ inferences are relevant and useful to us.
The second part of the book goes a long way to explain why ‘blink’ decisions could backfire under certain circumstances and situations.
After the first two parts, I am really confused. So the third part of the book tries to explain when ‘blink’ could work for you and when it may not. Gladwell tries his best to make this distinction but left me more confused.
The best part of the book is that it does a very good job reminding us of how deeply entrenched we are in our unconscious biases. It explains why black people tend to be wrongly accused more often than white people, C-level executives in America are taller white males and women not selected to play the symphony and so on.
Overall its a fun read, but unsure of its application in the real world.
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