Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking |  | Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.99
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Seller: internationalbooks
Rating:  1173 reviews
Sales Rank: 132
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 0316010669
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.44
EAN: 9780316010665
ASIN: 0316010669
Publication Date: April 3, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant. Gladwell, the best-selling author of The Tipping Point, campaigns for snap judgments and mind reading with a gift for translating research into splendid storytelling. Building his case with scenes from a marriage, heart attack triage, speed dating, choking on the golf course, selling cars, and military maneuvers, he persuades readers to think small and focus on the meaning of "thin slices" of behavior. The key is to rely on our "adaptive unconscious"--a 24/7 mental valet--that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea. Gladwell includes caveats about leaping to conclusions: marketers can manipulate our first impressions, high arousal moments make us "mind blind," focusing on the wrong cue leaves us vulnerable to "the Warren Harding Effect" (i.e., voting for a handsome but hapless president). In a provocative chapter that exposes the "dark side of blink," he illuminates the failure of rapid cognition in the tragic stakeout and murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. He underlines studies about autism, facial reading and cardio uptick to urge training that enhances high-stakes decision-making. In this brilliant, cage-rattling book, one can only wish for a thicker slice of Gladwell's ideas about what Blink Camp might look like. --Barbara Mackoff
Product Description
In his #1 bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. In BLINK, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. How do we make decisions--good and bad--and why are some people so much better at it than others? That's the question Malcolm Gladwell asks and answers in BLINK. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology, examining case studies as diverse as speed dating, pop music, and the New Coke, Gladwell shows how the difference between good decision making and bad has nothing to do with how much information we can process quickly, but rather with the few particular details on which we focus. BLINK displays all of the brilliance that has made Malcolm Gladwell's journalism so popular and his books such perennial bestsellers as it reveals how all of us can become better decision makers--in our homes, our offices, and in everyday life.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 1173
 Our Hidden Programming June 20, 2008
Connecticut Reader
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
Malcolm Gladwell is a "gatekeeper." In his book, Blink, he opens the gate to a room of self-discovery - a room that allows the reader, perhaps for the first time, to realize that our actions and judgments often are not as "objective" as we might think. Mr. Gladwell, through a series of examples and stories, explains that we each have our own "programming" - dare I say "prejudices" - about how we (and the cultures we grow up in) judge and respond to things we "see" and "know to be true".
He also says there are other more benign, untainted impressions that come to us in the "blink" of an eye. About these untainted impressions he says: "We don't know where our first impressions come from or precisely what they mean, so we don't always appreciate their fragility." Implicitly he suggests that we also don't realize how powerful our "programming" is to potentially override and taint those benign and fragile first impressions.
Mr. Gladwell provides examples of what some people have done to preserve their "blink" experiences and offset their "pre-programming" - a fun read - I recommend it.
As I was reading through the book, I was reminded of two other books (both of which I highly recommend) by Ariel and Shya Kane. In Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: A Book About Instantaneous Transformation and Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment, the authors include discussions of human mechanical behaviors - behaviors we absorb from our families and cultures at an early age. They point out that we are mostly unaware of these mechanics and until we become aware of them, they can influence and even "control" our behavior and life choices - very eye-opening and easy to read as well!
All three of these books are well worth reading - enjoy!
Absolutely enthralling and fascinating throughout. March 21, 2005
Michael Erisman (Seattle, WA)
260 out of 315 found this review helpful
This is one of the most fascinating books I have read in some time. The book centers on the concept of how fast we really do make judgments, called "thin slicing", and how deeper analysis can sometimes provide less information than more. It is all about cognitive speed.
The concept of "thin slicing" is dissected and explained. What I found fascinating, and also common sense, is that we process information on a subconscious level, "behind the door", and process so holistically that to over analyze can actually hinder our ability to make decisions.
Several key points are applicable in business. One of the in depth studies looked at a military leader who was particularly successful. One of his more poignant observations was that a great leader needs to let the people do their work. When deciding how often to follow up "you are diverting them, now they are looking upward instead of downward. You are preventing them from resolving the situation". (Page 118) Further "allowing people to operate without having to explain themselves constantly ... enables rapid cognition" (Page 119). It seems that most micro-management actually prevents people from successful decision making.
Another strange phenomenon occurs when we try and explain how we come to some conclusions. It seems that the more we try to analyze how we come to some conclusions the less reliable they become.
The ability to absorb and detect minute changes in facial expressions allows us to essentially "read minds" if we pay attention. There are several chapters on how reliable we can be in predicting behavior with very little information.
Overall, this book is so well written that I had a hard time putting it down. My only compliant, and it is a minor one, is that the book just ends. No summary or wrap up, just "boom", it's over. However, that is more a testament to how engaging the book is I suppose. Highly recommended!
A very good ' blink ' indeed January 11, 2005
Shalom Freedman (Jerusalem,Israel)
26 out of 29 found this review helpful
Malcolm Gladwell is one of the most brilliant non- fiction writers working today. He is a researcher and a thinker who looks into social phenomena and makes connections between diverse activities and areas of life in startling and interesting ways. While he is most known for the concept of ' the tipping point' I personally found his most remarkable essay to be on key figures in human social networks, and the way one individual may connect hundreds of even thousands different kinds of people together. In this present work which I have read the British edition of he writes about what he calls 'adaptive unconscious' about processes of mind and decision that determine much of our action in life. He opens with a consideration of the Getty Museum's considering the purchase of what seemed to be a great new discovery, a statue of a certain kind called a 'kourous. The Getty went to the greatest experts in scientifically evaluating the materials of the statue and they come up with it as genuine. However when the Getty showed the stature to people who live in the world of art history most of them instinctively recoiled from it. They made the kind of ' blink' split - second decision which bypassed their consciousness. They proved to be right. Gladwell goes on to consider ' thin- slicing' decision making in other areas, that is decision-making which is based on a very small set of experience. In his second chapter he looks at the work of a psychologist John Gottman who has developed a method of predicting whether a couple will eventually divorce through noting certain qualities revealed in a fifteen - minute conversation between them. Stonewalling, criticizing are two of the factors attended to but the key one is the degree of contempt one of the partners may have for another. But for Gladwell the focus is on understanding that it does not take a prolonged process of consciously investigating and collecting data but rather a quick- thin- slice evaluation to get to the truth of the situation. Gladwell investigates other kinds of situations in which in one case a firefighter, in another a Vietnam War veteran and Marine officer show a kind of instinctive ' right action' which would not be possible had they talked or thought too much at the wrong time and confused themselves in the process. Gladwell writes of very interesting characters , finds people of extraordinary abilities even when it comes to selling cars or tasting food. He centers on non- conventional figures who have in one way or another extraordinary gifts in ordinary life. In one chapter he looks at the diagnosis of heart- attacks in emergency room and shows how a method a researcher tried to push and had rejected for years has enabled quick, life- saving diagnosis. In this situation too he shows how too much information, too much conscious rehashing of data can interfere with a kind of quick- decision making a kind of ' in a blink' judgment. Here however it should be pointed out that Gladwell insists that in many areas of life it is only because there has been prior training, study, rehearsal that such wise- snap judgment is possible. All in all this is a richly informative and highly interesting work, a very pleasurable read.
It will take more than one blink to read, but it will be worth it.
Without a Thought ! March 6, 2008
Joseph Cilmi (New York)
24 out of 27 found this review helpful
Blink is a " must read " about the power and accuracy of our first impressions and intuitions about people and events. Malcolm Gladwell skillfully presents several case studies that inspire me to recognize my own intuitive talent and also to notice my tendencies to dismiss my intuitive knowing in favor of analysis and self-doubt.
He cleverly examines stereotyping and predjudice, and demonstrates how this influences and distorts our intuition.
As a result of this book, I feel more confident and freer to express myself spontaneously! Tuning in to my first impressions is fun and actually gives me a greater sense of well-being and living in the moment, wow!
Another great source of well-being and Instantaneous Transformation is Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment by Ariel and Shya Kane. This lovely anthology gives me a window into living with ease and transforms everyday circumstances into life giving opportunities. I can experience enlightenment now! Without any complicated discipline, Guru, or hoops to jump through. Thanks to the Kanes and Gladwell for giving us modern day access to a truly satisfying life.
A new way of seeing September 29, 2007
Susan NYC (NYC)
19 out of 21 found this review helpful
In the blink of an eye we gather huge amounts of information. The author, Gladwell, likens our brains to giant computers capable of processing lots of data in a flash. I found it fascinating how we can use this information either for survival purposes and / or we can apply our intuitive knowledge to any given situation. The author coins the term "thin slicing" to explain the process of applying one's intuition. He states that we are often suspicious of trusting this intuition because it's so quick and easy, even when it's on target. He relays experiments where instantaneous "thin slicing" has amazing results, sometimes in life and death situations, but also explains what can cause the skillto fall short. The reason often being that we are not truly living in the present moment.
Two books that easily guide one into the present moment are Ariel and Shya Kane's "Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment" and "How To Create A Magical Relationship". These refreshingly fun and practical books effortlessly get the reader into the present moment where enlightenment resides. In an instant life can become brilliant and magical. Both of these intelligent books have shown me that life needn't be hard work in order to be amazing.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 1173
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