Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

I’ve loved every Malcolm Gladwell book I have read and this one is no different. He blends phycology with story telling like no one else. Very enjoyable book!

This is a light, easy-to-read book that delivers on an interesting premise, which is exploring how we use our minds to make split-second decisions that can be surprisingly accurate. Though there are times when the terminology can be a bit cumbersome, the general ideas presented are useful and digestible. Gladwell covers many different scenarios and applications with his research — ranging from testing the strength of marriages via facial expressions to the thought processes of cops who fire their weapons at innocent civilians — and brings in the expertise of many scientists to back up his claims. I appreciated how the book covered some sticky subjects like racism and autism, the intricacies of which immediately came to my mind when I read some of the author’s earlier arguments. I was pleased to find that there wasn’t a defeatist attitude about confronting our prejudices in daily life (though I must say that claiming people without autism experience “momentary autism” during stressful situations is an interesting choice of words…), and there is some hope in working toward making smarter decisions based on facts, not stereotypes. Regardless, this is a simple and enjoyable read, ideal for when you have downtime or are even about to board a plane. The main ideas of the book could have perhaps been neatly summarized into an article, but Blink provides an in-depth look at the powers of perception that most of us take for granted and acts as a great stepping stone for those interested in discovering more about the world of the unconscious.

Better version of thinking fast and slow basically

Blink was a little hard to read at first. After a few chapters it seemed to pick up and was a good read. The section on police officers was riveting

This book is super interesting, but after reading it I am not any smarter than when I started.

"Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant - in the blink of an eye - that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work - in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?"

I don't know!

The psychologist predicts whether a marriage will last has been scientifically studying it for years. The tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault was an expert but just magically started seeing it without knowing why. The antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance had expertise but did so contrary to the science.

But even if you're an expert- don't trust your immediate reaction! All the politicians thought Warren Harding would be a great president and he was terrible. And there is the example of when police make huge instinct-based mistakes that result in them shooting unarmed, innocent civilians. We respond differently if we are subconsciously primed, a thing we fail to notice so we probably can't protect ourselves against.

The whole section on Coke and Pepsi seemed especially irrelevant and boring.