Nonfiction

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-07-20 01:52:12
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Malcolm Gladwell
  • ISBN：0316010669
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Summary

Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic， Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make。 Never again will you think about thinking the same way。

Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us。 Now， in Blink， he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within。 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？

In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last， based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance。 Here， too， are great failures of "blink": the election of Warren Harding; "New Coke"; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police。 Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating， but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing" - filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables。

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Reviews

Lee Kofman ，

A lot of illuminating research and I love Gladwell's writing style - it has a light touch to it， but actually it is quite deep。 I love the breadth of his case studies and how aptly he juxtaposes very different cases and draws parallels between them。 But I did miss having a clear conclusion at the end to draw together all the disparate stories he tells and various arguments he makes。 The book struck me as powerful yet unfinished。 A lot of illuminating research and I love Gladwell's writing style - it has a light touch to it， but actually it is quite deep。 I love the breadth of his case studies and how aptly he juxtaposes very different cases and draws parallels between them。 But I did miss having a clear conclusion at the end to draw together all the disparate stories he tells and various arguments he makes。 The book struck me as powerful yet unfinished。 。。。more

Claire ，

For less important decisions， use careful reasoning。 For very important decisions， trust your instincts。 Beware of unconscious biases when making split second decisions or acting in the heat of the moment。 When possible， take a deep breath and wait to calm down before acting。 Remember the screens used in orchestra auditions — what if we took those into the courtroom？ Our visual impressions of people introduce bias。

Chad。。。 ，

"To be a successful decision maker， we have to edit""If you get to caught up in the production of information， you drown in the data""the best and most successful 。。。 understand how to combine rational analysis with instinctive judgement" "To be a successful decision maker， we have to edit""If you get to caught up in the production of information， you drown in the data""the best and most successful 。。。 understand how to combine rational analysis with instinctive judgement" 。。。more

Burt ，

Listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed all the different stories and the way Gladwell presents / tells them。 On one hand he showed both sides of the argument with positive and negative examples of rapid cognition。 However I struggle to articulate a concrete takeaway。 The best I can do is that rapid cognition works best under certain circumstances where there is sufficient time， expertise， and biases can be mitigated。

Debbie Cranberryfries ，

Human behavior and social science is always fascinating to me。 I do feel like gladwells books all have an underlying agenda but I think it's just his beliefs shining through。 Human behavior and social science is always fascinating to me。 I do feel like gladwells books all have an underlying agenda but I think it's just his beliefs shining through。 。。。more

Hersh Patel ，

One of my favorite books I've ever read。 Really makes you think about the importance of first impressions and the effect even the smallest details have to your subconscience One of my favorite books I've ever read。 Really makes you think about the importance of first impressions and the effect even the smallest details have to your subconscience 。。。more

Matthew ，

Slightly eye opening。 Talks about the change that could happen within a blink of the eye。 Nothing special， sorts out the thoughts the read internally already knows。

Emily ，

Really interesting but could have been so much better。 There seems to be no conclusion， it just stops。

Dianna Thiel ，

The concept of using your intuition to make quick and accurate judgements makes sense when it pertains to a subject you are well versed on。 The author tried to extend this concept to people and the book became a racist and misogynist treatise without him even realizing it。 Many of the tenants he set out to prove at the beginning of the book were lost。 Super disappointing。

Sophie Nagel ，

This book really got me thinking about reactions and body language。

Christine ，

I read this a couple years ago and loved it。 It was so insightful。

Jiliac ，

How not to love a book from Malcolm Gladwell。 He tells story so well you never have to make an effort to read his books。 And at the same time， there are so much interesting information。 I find he always takes the two sides : "the power of blink judgements" and "the dangers of blink decisions"。 How not to love a book from Malcolm Gladwell。 He tells story so well you never have to make an effort to read his books。 And at the same time， there are so much interesting information。 I find he always takes the two sides : "the power of blink judgements" and "the dangers of blink decisions"。 。。。more

Meysam Shamsi ，

Messages are not direct。 A lots of story and examples that sometimes mislead the main thread of book。 Although the author trys to make a scientific argument but it may conclude with exaggeration。

Khandoba Salunkhe ，

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is all about the unconscious， split second decision making which we have dubbed as gut feeling。 The book talks about when this kind of decision making is useful， when it can be harmful， how to hone it and how to wield it。 The book is great mix of anecdotes and research backed data。 But it doesn't drive the point home like Gladwell managed to do with "Tipping Point"。 This was more like his other work "Outliers" where although there were examples abound the samples always Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is all about the unconscious， split second decision making which we have dubbed as gut feeling。 The book talks about when this kind of decision making is useful， when it can be harmful， how to hone it and how to wield it。 The book is great mix of anecdotes and research backed data。 But it doesn't drive the point home like Gladwell managed to do with "Tipping Point"。 This was more like his other work "Outliers" where although there were examples abound the samples always felt like those of convenience。Most of the research cited is from obscure sources and there seems to be a kind of confirmation bias where only the results considered which proved the points author was trying to make。 I'm sure if one looks hard enough， they might find the experiments and data to contradict that which author has selected。 Nonetheless， a fine read with good structure and a peculiar insight into indecipherable machinations of mind。 。。。more

Leslie ，

BC - Interesting - liked the stories each chapter contained on different ways mind works

Kaitlyn ，

I loved a lot of points that the author made here and I do think I learned a lot from it but the organization of information was a little confusing and sometimes I wasn’t sure exactly what the point trying to be made was or， more importantly， how to fix this issue。

James Dudt ，

You only have one chance to make a first impression。 Or do you？

Payal Pasha ，

It's a brilliant read。。。。 For those who relate with it。 I definitely loved the first chapter。 Then I got lost。 No ratings because it's out of my expertise。 It's a brilliant read。。。。 For those who relate with it。 I definitely loved the first chapter。 Then I got lost。 No ratings because it's out of my expertise。 。。。more

DW ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 The power and perils of our subconscious decision making abilities

Divvy Maharani ，

Reading this makes me feel I’m Luffy with his observation haki 😌 a bit confusing sometimes as the chapters tend to contradict with each conclusion。

Gracie ，

The message it conveys is good: we should learn when to and not to trust our instincts。 However， maybe it's because I read three Gladwell's books in a row， I have grown a bit tired of the style。 It's a bit repetitive。 The whole experience was not that exciting。 The message it conveys is good: we should learn when to and not to trust our instincts。 However， maybe it's because I read three Gladwell's books in a row， I have grown a bit tired of the style。 It's a bit repetitive。 The whole experience was not that exciting。 。。。more

Talent ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Overall this is an interesting book that presents an overview of quick cognition that humans perform （what Kahneman calls system 1 thinking， also known as “your gut”）。 However， the story is told in an overly dramatic popularization that makes it read like an even longer version of an article in The Atlantic （if such a thing were possible）。The story jumps from a mysterious intuition about Greek kouros statues to medical malpractice and how couples relationships can be evaluated based on “thin sli Overall this is an interesting book that presents an overview of quick cognition that humans perform （what Kahneman calls system 1 thinking， also known as “your gut”）。 However， the story is told in an overly dramatic popularization that makes it read like an even longer version of an article in The Atlantic （if such a thing were possible）。The story jumps from a mysterious intuition about Greek kouros statues to medical malpractice and how couples relationships can be evaluated based on “thin slicing” and pattern recognition。 Gladwell hooks us into the concept by almost selling it as a miraculous 6th sense。 However， he then goes on to deconstruct it by pointing out the times intuitions go wrong， ie when we judge politicians like Warren Harding or when the police make a series of snap judgments that lead to yet another young and dead black man。 The middle of the book discusses the military’s Millennium challenge and General Paul van Riper’s approach which was radically different and actually won。 His approach was based on tactical creativity， flexibility， and appropriate appreciation for uncertainty。 On the other hand， the opponent was focused on knowing every piece of data but lacking coup d’oeuil， missing the forest for the trees。 This chapter doesn’t really fit well with the rest of the book but might be even more interesting to me as counterintuitively having more data points is not necessarily better。 Even in training AI algorithms you don’t want to over fit the model to the data…The next few chapters dissect the failure of market research which is essentially psychology research。 If you ask the wrong questions about Coke’s flavor to a focus group you are bound to make a New Coke level disaster。 The context matters so much in market research and things like the color of the packaging affects the response， as does the overall setting of where a product is consumed。 Hence generalizability is always difficult。An aside， the irreproducible psychology research and broad generalizations of psychologists is why I approach the whole enterprise with A LOT of skepticism and instead trust my gut instead of a panel of book-selling， careerist psychobabble academics on this one。Gladwell then delves into the experts’ gut intuitions。 Highly developed senses practiced over many， many samples with a well defined vocabulary allows an expert to very accurately have an intuition in their field of expertise and know when to pause and examine whether the intuition might be wrong。 In contrast to focus groups based on collected intuition of the masses， which may not be right。 This is the real insight of this book， in my humble opinion。 Overall， Gladwell concludes that the thin slice quick gut intuition our minds are born with is powerful but vulnerable to blindness。 As such， a cultivated and practiced gut sense within fields requiring expertise are very powerful and should be strived for。 Fields that should expand this include the police。 。。。more

Anushree Saxena ，

“When making a decision of minor importance， I have always found it advantageous to consider all the pros and cons。 In vital matters， however， such as choice of a mate or a profession， the decision should come from the unconscious， from somewhere within ourselves。 In the important decisions of personal life， we should be governed， I think， by the deep inner needs of our nature。”- Sigmund Freud

Don Shreve ，

Why do we make the decisions we do in life。 How much should we trust our gut and under what circumstances。 Read this book to find out。

Jarrod Li ，

From a writing perspective， there is naught but praise。 Gladwell has an innate capacity to draw you in， seamlessly navigating topics ranging from a used car salesman to the battle of Chancellorsville。 I appreciate many of the topics that he has touched upon and the ideas which he has brought to my attention。 Having said that though， I am aware that many individuals within this field of study do have an adverse reaction to this piece of work in particular， as Gladwell seems to often misrepresent From a writing perspective， there is naught but praise。 Gladwell has an innate capacity to draw you in， seamlessly navigating topics ranging from a used car salesman to the battle of Chancellorsville。 I appreciate many of the topics that he has touched upon and the ideas which he has brought to my attention。 Having said that though， I am aware that many individuals within this field of study do have an adverse reaction to this piece of work in particular， as Gladwell seems to often misrepresent or cherry-pick certain findings to support his narrative。 In that sense， I will say that I do not have the expertise or knowledge， nor have I done the requisite research to make such a judgment。 However， I can see the potentiality of something like that occurring。 Similar to perhaps a Mans Search for Meaning in that it elucidated and articulated some ideas and thoughts which I was aware of， but had never really stopped to deeply consider。 In that comparative sense， I would say that I prefer this work to Frankl's， as it is much more grounded in scientific basis and fact， rather than the personal anecdotes and experiences of an individual。 Having said that however， at the end of the day there was nothing that was explicitly new to me。 I was aware of the Big Five personality test， I was aware of Implicit and have taken their tests， I had also previously read about the instance of various symphonies adjusting for implicit biases that govern the decisions on who is accepted。 Although I did not know most of the certain examples， the underlying concepts they were supporting were not novel to me。 All in all， a well written piece， and one which touches upon implicit bias in an era， and a time where we are seeing it as a forefront consideration。 I would perhaps recommend certain sections， especially if individuals were not as well acquainted with some concepts that Gladwell touches upon。 。。。more

Cami ，

Our first instinct is usually the best。 Lots if scientific research and data to back this up。 I like books dealing with gut instinct and first impressions。 Super interesting。

Mo ，

Another Great Malcolm Gladwell。

Fraser Simons ，

It’s almost comical how much Gladwell contradicts himself in this particular case。 He draws conclusions that he directly disproves in subsequent sections。 More than anything， it’s just entertaining to consume his work， but also， so long as you’re paying attention， always seems to end up like the scene in The Prestige when Michael Cain explains misdirection and makes the bird disappear。 Only we know the bird is crushed by the cage and dead。 And we just aren’t supposed to catch the dead body。Well It’s almost comical how much Gladwell contradicts himself in this particular case。 He draws conclusions that he directly disproves in subsequent sections。 More than anything， it’s just entertaining to consume his work， but also， so long as you’re paying attention， always seems to end up like the scene in The Prestige when Michael Cain explains misdirection and makes the bird disappear。 Only we know the bird is crushed by the cage and dead。 And we just aren’t supposed to catch the dead body。Well so it is with all Gladwell books。 And really it makes a lot of sense when you see an interview with him where he says he considers his books launching pads for conversations。 Kickstarts into the general intellect。 But… no where in his actual books， that I’ve read anyways， is his actual intent every stated。 He presents his thinking through the gesture of seemingly factual evidence and leads the reader on through the small hoops of his logic in order for his conclusions to appear factually true。 Yet… the reader is supposed to infer that even he thinks this is just the beginning of the conversation as a whole？ He clearly states what he thinks and why， even when drawing comical biased conclusions from information that would disprove something in the first section。 What reason is there for the reader to think that he thinks he’s sending them on toward the actual “hard data”。 （See below for a reference）And the problem is that now those conclusions from the book are used as short hand in the general intellect， even when completely untrue。 Like the 10，000 hour thing， or underdogs， or really any of his popular concussions。 And because he is so popular， he really does have a larger responsibility。 Especially now that we’ve seen the effect Gladwell has on culture。 It’s legitimately disturbing， and easily remedied with a clear intent stated upfront on the book that is never there。 At least with other books， as far as I could tell， he did not contradict himself so much。 It hampered my enjoyment and that’s really all I came to these books for， knowing to take everything with a grain of salt。 But even the prestige takes a turn from the fun of a magic trick to something far more sinister when you know the bird is dead， crushed by the cage for the audience。 “In an interview with The Telegraph， Gladwell said， "The mistake is to think these books are ends in themselves。 My books are gateway drugs—they lead you to the hard stuff。" Gladwell himself is discrediting his own work， essentially saying you also need a Psych 101 textbook at your side to make sure everything jives with actual fact。 If his books are not "ends in themselves，" why does he go on with doing Ted talk after Ted talk， business meeting after business meeting masquerading around ideas that are truly stories that are inspired by science？ The citations and studies he uses are simply the starting point for him to draw completely different， unrelated， and non-peer reviewed conclusions。 They give his ideas unwarranted scientific legitimacy。”https://www。thecrimson。com/column/beh。。。 。。。more

Kathy Cortez ，

What a magnificent book

Maha ，

I have to say this book cannot be read at one sitting or it won't be well digested。 There are interesting facts such as the start of women in orchesteras and coke and Pepsi taste tests。 I didn't know you can train the brain to not think in different situations that require seconds to make a desicion。 I didn't know that a person can control every facial muscle voluntary。 It does support thought that first impressions can usually be wrong unless the brain was experienced and well trained。 I recomm I have to say this book cannot be read at one sitting or it won't be well digested。 There are interesting facts such as the start of women in orchesteras and coke and Pepsi taste tests。 I didn't know you can train the brain to not think in different situations that require seconds to make a desicion。 I didn't know that a person can control every facial muscle voluntary。 It does support thought that first impressions can usually be wrong unless the brain was experienced and well trained。 I recommend reading but divide it on several days and maybe further research is required。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0