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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

by Malcolm Gladwell

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9,340179120 (3.73)85
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Showing 1-5 of 175 (next | show all)
A quick read, well-researched but not too dense. Thought-provoking stuff, especially the chapter about implicit associations, discussed in the context of the Amadou Diallo shooting in New York. ( )
  catalogthis | Nov 24, 2009 |
An excellent chapter on art and instincts, as well as a feature on professional "tasters" who describe the criteria for testing mayonnaise amongst other things.
  SonjaBarfoed | Nov 23, 2009 |
A better title would be "thin slicing" as that's the way the subject was referred to time and again through the book. Really a collection of examples that try to illustrate the point. The first few did pretty well, then it seemed like "here's a neat story, let's see how we can get it to fit the topic." ( )
  skraft001 | Nov 14, 2009 |
This book uses a lot of words to say very little. Basically, snap judgements and gut reactions are the result of very quick processing of information by our subconscious mind, and if we try to think hard about why we feel the way we do, we'll come up empty because that information isn't accessible by our conscious minds. So we should trust our intuition...except that we shouldn't, because our gut reaction can also reveal our inner racist and cause us to elect people like Warren Harding. So we shouldn't trust it...except that many major decisions can and should be made using a very small amount of information, because too much will hinder your decision-making process...but you can't know which information is critical without a lengthy and detailed study of all possible factors. So...trust your gut only if you're a highly trained expert and not under very much stress. I guess. I was tempted to put down this book several times, but the writing style is actually quite engaging, and I had faith that the author would somehow tie up all his suppositions into some kind of generalized theory. He doesn't. He shares a lot of marginally interesting anecdotes, but I was definitely unimpressed. So if you enjoy arbitrary and often conflicting psychological conclusions supported by loads and loads of case studies from a large variety of fields (from New Coke to marriage to police brutality), you will like this book. If you're looking for a cohesive explanation or even a concrete argument one way or another, you will be left wanting. ( )
  melydia | Oct 28, 2009 |
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People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
To my parents, Joyce and Graham Gladwell
First words
In September of 1983, an art dealer by the name of Gianfranco Becchina approached the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. (Introduction)
Some years ago, a young couple came to the University of Washington to visit the laboratory of a psychologist named John Gottman.
Quotations
"We have come to confuse information with understanding."
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Book description

Amazon.com (ISBN 0316011789, Hardcover)

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

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:55 -0400)

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