Book Review: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

When I read the name and subtitle of the book Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, I did not expect the thought-provoking nature of the book. But then, that’s part of the whole point of the book, as it turns out. We can not always judge a book by its cover.

What I found most interesting is how the author is able to scientifically explain the concept of intuition – something I never thought was more than just an “idea” – but as it turns out, there is much more to how our brains process things and can make snap decisions that can be quite accurate despite a lack of in-depth knowledge or information. Still, strangely, we can just the same make quick decisions that are much too much powered by factors that “muddy up” our ability to judge the most important factors in a decision.

Experts understand this – a food expert or a concert musician can taste or hear the subtleties in food or music, for example, that the rest of us can not. So we may use other factors to judge whether we like a meal or a song – things such as packaging or the way a person looks.

To understand the difference between conscious and unconscious thought, when we use each, who is able to use each reliably, and why, it may only be possible through a long dialogue from Gladwell or by reading the book. Indeed, its quite complicated.

Interestingly, Gladwell argues that in our personal decision-making, we can most often rely on snap judgements when the choices are complicated. However, when the choices are more basic, we should weigh the pros and cons. Counter-intuitive, isn’t it? But it turns out, as the choices get more complicated, we can’t truly weigh pros and cons because we get confused, things get complicated, and in reality, there are certain overriding factors that may be way more important than we are giving credit in a “thorough analysis”. Therefore, we should trust our guy when decisions are complex.

He argues that by carefully dissecting and analyzing behaviours, we can learn the nuances that matter more. For example, in marriage, the single most determining factor of whether a couple will fall apart is the amount  of contempt in their relationship. So powerful is this one factor, that by measuring nothing else, one can determine the likelihood that a marriage will last.

Gladwell also shows us how our thoughts are shaped so much more than we want to believe, by presuppositions. Such as, how much more likely someone taking a test is to do worse, simply by being exposed to something that would cause negative self-doubt prior to taking the test. Or simply by being exposed to polite words intermixed in a test, we are more likely to be polite  after taking the test.

I highly recommend this book, it’s an amazing reflection on human nature and a look into our own decision-making.

The power of understanding his examples and stories and connections is that you can suddenly understand so much more about your own world, making decisions, and why people do things.