Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking confirms and surprises you about the way our mind works when it comes to making choices/decisions in the blink of a moment. Malcolm Gladwell reveals with research and case studies how 'thin slicing' (a phrase used to describe the way in which our minds form impressions/decisions in a matter of seconds) can be both a good and bad thing. He uses case studies from a variety of life situations and people, from cops at gunpoint with a suspect, to the famous Coke-Pepsi blind taste test, the music industry, a tennis match, and even an Orchestra audition. Gladwell gets at the heart of why some people can get it so right when it comes to making certain decisions in a split second while in some cases having all the information about a situation or person isn't necessarily going to arm you with a better decision-making ability. On the flip side Gladwell also uses some fantastic examples of where choices based on first impressions or in split seconds have gone seriously wrong.
I quite enjoyed this book, and can't really find anything specific to criticize it with. It was written accessibly, convincingly and I reckon I will venture to read more of Gladwell's work in the future. Blink has some fascinating revelations but it also re-frames the obvious. On the whole it's all intriguing stuff and its content will no doubt make for an interesting conversation starter, at the very least.
Goodreads rating: 3/5
Could appeal to: anyone interested in how the mind works and about decision-making, marketers, advertising folks
Read it with: Google at hand (because there'll be plenty of little triviaesque stuff that you might want to Google whilst reading)
Taster quote: “The entire principle of a blind taste test was ridiculous. They shouldn't have cared so much that they were losing blind taste tests with old Coke, and we shouldn't at all be surprised that Pepsi's dominance in blind taste tests never translated to much in the real world. Why not? Because in the real world, no one ever drinks Coca-Cola blind.”
Published by: Back Bay Books
2 comments:
This is quite an interesting read... even in medicine, such split second decisions are all to necessary. My bosses call them "educated guesses" and going by "spinal level". I guess the more experienced you are, the better you are at arriving at the right decision.
Yes, "educated guesses" is a good way of putting it. :)
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