Blink

I finished Malcolm Gladwell's book, blink, a few weeks ago. I've gone back through it a few times because I wasn't too sure what to make of it.

The subtitle of the book is "The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" and I ordered it because of Gladwell's reputation and my own interest in the subjects of intuition and snap judgments. I've tended to gravitate to fast paced and stressful jobs. One reason for that is I'm good at making quick decisions under pressure and my employers have recognized that. I can't explain how that works, where the answers and insights come from so quickly when under pressure. They just come. I had high expectations for this book.

Too high I think. Don't get me wrong, this is a well written book that is an easy read. The various and interesting stories offer insights into what Gladwell calls "thin-slicing", how the unconscious part of the mind can analyze situations very quickly based on a small amount of information. It's worth the read for those insights and for the citations that lead to what appear to be other interesting works on the subject.

If you are looking to begin exploring intuition and the workings of the unconscious mind this book is a good place to start. It's the kind of book that left me with more questions than answers though. Don't buy it with the expectation (my own fault there, it's not sold as such) that it will leave you satisfied on it's subject. It probably won't, but it is informative and entertaining and I recommend it.

Comments

[red]

So sorry about all the trackbacks. I have no idea why that occurred. :)

[hoot]

No sweat....presto magico.

Thanks for the link!