Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye (Paperback)

by Michael R. LeGault (Author)
Key Phrases: egalitarian intelligence, trash culture, United States, New Orleans, New York Times (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"[For] those concerned about America losing touch with its intellectual traditions . . . Think! could not have emerged at a better time."-- The Washington Times

Product Description
Outraged by the downward spiral of intellect and culture, Michael LeGault offers the flip side of Malcolm Gladwell's bestselling phenomenon, Blink, which theorized that our best decision-making is done on impulse, without factual knowledge or critical analysis. If bestselling books are advising us to not think, LeGault argues, it comes as no surprise that sharp, incisive reasoning has become a lost art in the daily life of people everywhere.

Somewhere along the line, the Age of Reason morphed into the Age of Emotion; this systemic erosion is costing time, money, jobs, and lives in the twenty-first century, leading to less fulfilment and growing dysfunction. LeGault provides a bold, controversial, and objective analysis of the causes and solutions for some of the biggest problems facing Western culture in the 21st century. From the over- load of reality TV shows and gossip magazines that have rendered curiosity of the mind and spirit obsolete to permissive parenting and low standards that have caused an academic crisis among our children, LeGault looks at all aspects of modern lives and points to how and where it all went wrong.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Threshold Editions (October 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416531556
• ISBN-13: 978-1416531555
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #238,998 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Two Sides Of The Same Coin And A Good Book, March 24, 2006

By	Dave Lakhani "BoldApproach.com" (Boise, ID United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye (Hardcover)

Many of the reviewers here criticize this book because it isn't Blink (which by the way I think is an excellent book) but in my opinion, that is the wrong comparison. This is a book about critical thinking, Blink is a book about intuitive thinking.

The path to superior thinking is using both sides of the coin.

This book is a great look at critical thinking particularly as it relates to may of the not-thought-through group think decisions that many people make.

This is a great book for breaking down the critical thinking process and encouraging people to start thinking again in an age where many would have us not stop and question the avalanche of messages we get on a daily basis.

Read this book and Blink, you'll be a better thinker.

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too long and sometimes inconsistent., March 6, 2006

By	Luca Zullo "lcz" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye (Hardcover)

The author has some good points but he drags on for way too long. The book could have been easily shorter as he often enters in long winded descriptions - borderline rants - which add nothing to the points already expoused. I haven't yet read Blink!, so I cannot tell on whether he's correct or not in his assessment of the book. I do however feel strongly that this book is not immune from the typical polarization of much discourse in the US today. I share his dislike for "political correctness" when it becomes a hamper to the free flow and discussion of ideas, nonetheless his cartoonish depiction of the liberal left is a poor service to the critical thinking he aims to promote. He fails his own litmus tests. A couple of examples. He's extremely critical of global warming and says that the majority of scientist is unconvinced or not against it. Actually the majority of relevant scientist world wide is convinced that man made global warming is real although they may still disagree on the overall impact and best mitigation -if any - policy. Also he uses rethorical arguments which are the negation of critical thinking. Again in the case of global warming he criticizes those who "believe that carbon dioxide (a non pollutant) causes global warming". This is intellectually dishonest as it is meant to instill in the reader the equivalence non-pollutant=harmless. In other term since co2 is a not a pollutant - which is true - it cannot cause anything as dangerous a global warming is supposed to be. Too bad that pollution potential and ability to reflect electromagnetic radiation - and therefore have the potential for global warming - are absolutely unrelated. He's disonest because if he belives that co2 does not cause global warming, should argue that and not using unrelevant rethoric to bias the readers in a desired direction. That is a cheap trick that doesn't belongs to a book on critical thinking and demeans the whole argument he set forth to promote.
The author says rightly that while we all have our own ideology and our bias, critical thinking should allow us to see behind it and avoid ideology to become a screen that obfuscates our interpreation of the world. Sadly, I feel that several times he fail to heed his own advice and in doing so he's doing a disservice to his own message and several nonetheless relevant points raised by the book. Eventually once again those - like me - who are disenfranchised with the monopoly of debate held by the liberal left and the conservative right, will find scant comfort in reading this book.

26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't 'Thin-Slice' Th!nk", January 27, 2006

By	Michael T. Ferens (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye (Hardcover)

If one were to take Malcolm Gladwell's advice to "Thin-Slice", they should just read the cliff notes of "Blink." Would reading just the chapter titles of "Blink" fairly explain the message in "Blink?" The answer is of course, NO.

Likewise, it appears previous negative reviews on this web site regarding Michael LeGault's "Think" were from readers who 'thin-sliced' "Think." The result was a misunderstanding of the message.

In part, LeGault's "Think" is a response (correction) to the theory expressed in Gladwell's "Blink" that most decisions including life threatening situations and monumental decisions made by government leaders can and should be made through 'thin-slicing', intuition, and gut feelings.

However, responding to Gladwell's hypothesis is not the main point of "Think." LeGault reminds the reader that bad decisions are based on greed or fast fixes (putting a band-aid on a pipe). While LeGault accepts that intuition can be a valuable part of the thought process, he articulates that failures are caused as a result on non-critical thinking. He provides examples of government (Katrina), business (GM and Ford) and social (every other kid on Ritalin and political correctness gone too far) failures supporting his message. That being, bad decisions are the result of irrational, "blink" thinking methods.

Previous reviews appear politically motivated. However, those reviewers misunderstood the message. This is not a "You are stupid because you are Democrat or ignorant because you are Republican" book. Rather, LeGault reminds the reader of the value of critical thinking and that incisive and analytical reasoning in America appears a lost art.

This is truly a good and positive read. "Think" is the modern "Common Sense" (Thomas Paine) and a must read for decision makers, government and business leaders.