Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
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 Book Description
How do we make decisions--good and bad--and why are some people so much better at it than others? Thats the question Malcolm Gladwell asks and answers in the follow-up to his huge bestseller, The Tipping Point. Utilizing case studies as diverse as speed dating, pop music, and the shooting of Amadou Diallo, Gladwell reveals that what we think of as decisions made in the blink of an eye are much more complicated than assumed. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology, he shows how the difference between good decision-making and bad has nothing to do with how much information we can process quickly, but on the few particular details on which we focus. Leaping boldly from example to example, displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Gladwell reveals how we can become better decision makers--in our homes, our offices, and in everyday life. The result is a book that is surprising and transforming. Never again will you think about thinking the same way. |
Customer Reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Anecdotes that leave you wondering, Sep 5, 2023
Gladwell, a journalist, uses interesting anecdotes to put forth his theory that few details are necessary to make snap judgments. He cites various cases where snap judgments proved to be more accurate than logical analysis. Unfortunately, those who made correct assumptions, were unable to explain how they chose the right responses. Although this book doesn't supply real answers, it should not be dismissed because it raises an important question, "How does our gut/intuition work?" I believe that Rosalene Glickman's classic book, Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self, will be most helpful to readers who want to learn HOW to make optimal decisions with the gut AND mind.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
 Statistical (and other) Nonsense, Sep 4, 2023
Gladwell begins with a story about a supposed Greek statue that some experts, using scientific testing, could not detect as a fruad, while others were immediately suspicious. (So, some people look at the forest for immediate clues, before examining the trees in detail.)
Another example involved a single tennis expert with an uncanny knack of foretelling when someone was about to double-fault. (The bad news is that he could not relate how this was done. Thus, what this proves is beyound me.)
Still another revolved around an officer playing a "rogue MidEast commander" vs. the regular Army. Anyone who has been in government knows that it moves at glacial speed, and can easily be outdone by much smaller groups with a modicum of intelligence and speed (eg. Lockheed's "Skunk Works," and Burt Rutan's "space ship."). So the rogue officer's success is hardly suprising.
To say that quick decisions - based on a few KEY VARIABLES - is better than studied analyses that include a multitude of minor issues is hardly surprising either.
Finally, readers need to keep in mind that there will always be statistical abberations - eg. someone who correctly predicts the flip of a coin 50 times in a row. However, that does not prove that they have any special talent, and they are just as likely to be wrong as right on the next toss.
Similarly, finding snap judgements superior to supposedly sophisticated statistical models does not necessarily support a conclusion supporting snap judgements - many statistical models are poorly specified and have embarrasingly large errors.
By the way, remember all those early snap judgements regarding Hurricane Katrina?
Not worth reading.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
In 2 seconds, I knew what I thought of this book..., Sep 4, 2023
Let me save the trouble and fill you in on what this book is actually about. To sum up, it's basically 254 pages telling you that within the first few seconds of observing something like art, a marriage, a product idea, etc., you can have as accurate of a view or assumption of it as you would in a year of observation. What makes this even more hilarious is that his examples of "instinctive decisions" are from experts in certain fields: a psychologist, a coach, antiquities experts, doctors, etc. Wouldn't you think that an expert in a field, let's say a doctor, would instinctively be able to give a more accurate interpretation within seconds of a sick person then say a mechanic? Uh...yeah. So let me save you the time, trouble and $25...trust your instincts and you'll be fine. I just can't believe someone drew out such a dull and pointless topic into 254 pages. So my final thoughts...in 2 seconds, I could tell this book was a waste of time so I stopped reading it. Well done Gladwell!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Insightful, Sep 3, 2023
I like reading Gladwell's material--his articles in the NewYorker are first class--because of his passion for finding the esoteric and distilling it into something that an everyday person can understand. In Blink, Gladwell is nonpareil in amalgamating seemingly unrelated subjects and weaves them into a compelling argument, which goes as follows: our conclusions are often made at a speed faster than the blink of an eye, and we must be aware of this tendency, and check it in situations when it is a disservice. Gladwell, for instance, cautions against this when life or death situations are involved.
The irony is that whereas Blink is about first-conclusion-bias and how it can cause egregious consequences, Gladwell is himself a victim of first conclusion bias, and this has compromised what would have otherwise been a superb book. For instance, we are presented with an unusual study that concerns the heights of the Fortune 500 C.E.O. According to Gladwell, there is causa justificio to believe that since most C.E.Os are over 6'-tall the Warren Harding error is at play. (Gladwell goes at length to explain what the Warren Harding error is.) I fear that by just looking at patterns and forming conclusions based on those patterns, Gladwell has himself been a victim of "thin-slicing."
Nonetheless, the writing style is first rate; William Strunk is smiling in his grave.
Gladwell covers the Amadou Diallo case extensively, but relies almost entirely on the testimony of the officers as his source. I wonder what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have thought about such a methodology.
The helpful anecdotes in the book were the Getty Museum Kouros Scandal, the study on the car dealerships in IL, the Munchen Philharmonic and trombonist saga, the story on Paul Ekman, and the Love-Connector.
If it weren't for Gladwell's propensity to draw conclusions based on apocryphal situations or data, I would have rated it 5 stars. Nonetheless, a fascinating insight into the arcane field of cognitive psychology.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
 Great book, Sep 3, 2023
This book is almost entirely devoted to describing instances of snap judgements that either assisted or led people astray in their decision making. Gladwell's conclusion, after studying how people make instant decisions in a wide range of fields from psychology to police work, is that we can make better instant judgments by training our mind and senses to focus on the most relevant facts-and that less input (as long as it's the right input) is better than more. Fascinating.
I also recommend "The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book." It is a fascinating look at how emotions influence our thinking and I was able to go online and test my EQ!
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Based on 374 reviews.