Blink
Blink is a book about those first few seconds that it takes your mind to jump to a series of conclusions or if you prefer rapid cognition. The author, Malcom Gladwell, thinks “those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good. Gladwell also says:
You could also say that it's a book about intuition, except that I don't like that word. In fact it never appears in "Blink." Intuition strikes me as a concept we use to describe emotional reactions, gut feelings--thoughts and impressions that don't seem entirely rational. But I think that what goes on in that first two seconds is perfectly rational. It's thinking--its just thinking that moves a little faster and operates a little more mysteriously than the kind of deliberate, conscious decision-making that we usually associate with "thinking." In "Blink" I'm trying to understand those two seconds. What is going on inside our heads when we engage in rapid cognition? When are snap judgments good and when are they not? What kinds of things can we do to make our powers of rapid cognition better?
I find Gladwell's writing style is fluid and compelling. I devoured every chapter, every paragraph, every sentence, every wordÂ… His blog also contains quality writing. If only I had that much talent.
I am a thinker. I analyze. I ponder. I am one of those that takes a decision that needs to be made and dissects it. I put the pros on one side and the cons on the other. I take my time making a decision. Its not just decisions.… I think about everything. How many times have I declared that I am an over-thinker/over-analyzer? (Here and here.) So why on earth would I like a book that is mainly about snap judgments? The reason being is that I agree with Gladwell. I think that in certain situations those judgments made based on first impressions are the best. He says:
I am a thinker. I analyze. I ponder. I am one of those that takes a decision that needs to be made and dissects it. I put the pros on one side and the cons on the other. I take my time making a decision. Its not just decisions.… I think about everything. How many times have I declared that I am an over-thinker/over-analyzer? (Here and here.) So why on earth would I like a book that is mainly about snap judgments? The reason being is that I agree with Gladwell. I think that in certain situations those judgments made based on first impressions are the best. He says:
We live in a society dedicated to the idea that we're always better off gathering as much information and spending as much time as possible in deliberation. As children, this lesson is drummed into us again and again: haste makes waste, look before you leap, stop and think. But I don't think this is true. There are lots of situations--particularly at times of high pressure and stress--when haste does not make waste, when our snap judgments and first impressions offer a much better means of making sense of the world.
Just read the book....
j.
