Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Paperback – April 3, 2007

Thought provoking, revolutionary insights...difficult to utilize

Comment

Larry Gross

July 11, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is an incredible tour de force with detailed research and eye-opening, and often disheartening insights into our flawed personal decision making processes. If read rightly, I believe this will thrust you into a new way of thinking and cause you to strive to develop ways to overcome unintentional biases and even hope to improve when you "trust your gut." Read wrongly, it will either cause frustration and hopelessness or anger and resentment. Gladwell does not give a prescription here. He doesn't provide a blueprint or a roadmap. He educates and leaves it to us to see where in our day to day we might be mind blind or are relying too heavily on data rather than instinct (or vice versa). It is truly up to us to take this information and use it as a lens to examine our own thinking and search to improve how we take what we see and use it to make better choices.

7 people found this helpful

Wow! Just Wow! Engaging Read You Won't Want to Put Down!

Comment

becky6703

October 14, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is a read for an Ethics and the Media class. Mind-blowing! Truly a fantastic read and I feel like I learned a lot about how different types of thinking give us better results in different scenarios. The stories within are fascinating and the entire class raved about our favoritess and how incredible the processes worked. Really makes you look at the world differently, and it a good way. A classmate had read another Gladwell title - I am excited to find that this author has more to read - I will definitely be checking out his other titles! I have loaned my copy to several friends who have all been just as impressed. Fantastic read for sure!

10 people found this helpful

A terrible collection of cherry picked anecdotes and conflicting data

Comment

Amazon Customer

April 7, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A terrible collection of cherry picked anecdotes and conflicting data, all carefully laid out to appeal to the instant gratification of the human ego.

Gladwell had made a chunk of change telling us we can "blink" and know the truest of truths... that our guts are inherently correct (well, except the many times he points out how incorrect they are, due to racism (except when he back pedals and says maybe the people in that example aren't racist, actually), sexism (except when he says it's possible sexism was not, in fact, a factor in such and such examples), and other biases (which the book both promises to teach us to control and says we have *no ability* to control), and that by "thin-slicing" (making use of the "adaptive unconscious" of our mind, which, incidentally, he says repeatedly can never be unlocked) we can be better people, fight wars "better", and solve the problems of the world.

It's a book for the casual reader, so the stories he uses to back up his arguments are often terribly irresponsible anecdotes. The studies he references are rarely detailed sufficiently so that the reader could know whether they'd had any controls, had been repeated and peer reviewed, etc. They're riddled with opinion and assumptions about results, and we're left to assume the lens from which he makes these statements is pure and holy.

The best take away from this self help quickie is that some people will, as a result of spending a dozen or so hours reading it and thinking about their minds and how they work, will be, going forward, more introspective, which is not a bad thing. The worst take away is that some (and I fear most) people will glean only the basest concept from his promises: that their guts are always right, leaving them less introspective and more irrationally bold and self-satisfied.

4 people found this helpful

Myron TTop Contributor: Lego

Comment

Have you ever wondered what your brain does when you need to make a decision?

June 21, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Malcolm Gladwell is a great author and I have read other books that he has written but I think that I liked this one the best. It delves into how we make decisions subconsciously and how if we are more aware of the way that we make decisions we can help eliminate inherent bias. I had to read this for a Decision Theory Graduate Course as part of my MBA and I am glad that I did. I think the more aware we are of how we make decisions the more we can make good decisions.

6 people found this helpful

Blink your way to acting right, but only if your personality is up to the task

Comment

Justin Time

November 14, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

They say that quick-thinking people can instinctively make the right (or best possible decisions) in any situation. The key is paradoxically not to dwell and ponder for more than a very short time. Sort of "May the power be with you" moment when ironically you make the right decision without any procedural/sequential thinking.
This book covers that state of mind in a fun and thorough fashion with examples of how we can act under various scenarios and also be satisfied with what we did when we look back on an event.
However, the trick to be able to operate that way comes from much deeper - you have to have the right personality - or develop one - that is calm, self-reliant and self-trusting. Being the type that is 'sorry' for this and that, or complaining about anything at all, is not one that can generate good 'blink speed' decisions.

21 people found this helpful

Comment

Customer images

See all customer images

Most recent customer reviews

senderrick marks

Love all of Malcolm’s books. Great addition

Published 1 day ago

Lynne

How we decide.....

Read this book if you have any interest in any of the following:
gut instinct
snap judgment
rapid cognition
adaptive unconscious
first impressions...Read more

Published 2 days ago

Lizzie L.

Fascinating and inspiring!

An eye opening examination about rapid cognition- giving some definition to the magic of “judgement”. How do we KNOW something about a person within seconds of seeing them?Read more

Published 10 days ago

edward minor

Just what the doctor ordered, required reading for Pysch class that I was taking., very prompt delivery.

Published 10 days ago

Kelly Robledo

Malcom always teaches you something new. lots of deep ...

Malcom always teaches you something new . lots of deep thoughts and new ways to look at the world.

Published 18 days ago

Amazon Customer

A thinking book

Published 20 days ago

Lina

really puts things in perspective!

Published 22 days ago

Sandra Botello

In my opinion Malcolm Gladwell is a great author and I have read some of his other ...

In my opinion Malcolm Gladwell is a great author and I have read some of his other books but I happen to like this one the best.Read more

Published 23 days ago

Sage Platt