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.

11 people found this helpful

Interesting, but could've been written in 30 pages. Look up a summary online instead; spend your time on more practical material

Comment

Chris

April 16, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book touches on a brilliant idea: we make decisions rapidly, even if we can't always explain exactly HOW we make those decisions. Gladwell does an excellent job at providing evidence to back up his claims. Really... he provides a plethora of examples to support these claims. In my opinion, WAY too many examples.

I'm a bottom-line kind of person and I don't read for fun; I read to gain applicable knowledge. Gladwell proved his concept in the first 30-50 pages and that was good enough for me. He then proceeded to continue proving the concept for another 200 pages. I hardly learned how to actually apply the concepts of rapid-cognition from this book and I'm annoyed at how much of my time was wasted. I wish he proved the concept in 30-50 pages and followed it up with actual ways to take advantage of that concept.

This book verified something that I believed to be true (rapid-cognition) without providing ways to practically exploit the theory. I'm not buying anything else of Gladwell's, but I would recommend looking up the sparknotes/summary of this book.

61 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

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.

22 people found this helpful

Malcolm Gladwell is a phenomenal author who can easily captive your attention with his easy-to-understand message and descriptive examples.

Comment

Customer images

See all customer images

Most recent customer reviews

Published 15 days ago

Ronald L. Charlton

Excellent

Published 16 days ago

Richard Brown

Five Stars

I absolutely love this book and have sent copies to many friends.

Published 16 days ago

Incredibly well written

This is one of the most insightful books I have read. Much of it discusses why we can trust our intuition.Read more

Gladwell at his best. This one will make you think about the way you view the world around you.

Jimi Hendrix

Extremely Interesting.

KayTop Contributor: Makeup

So interesting!

I'm only a couple of chapters in and I love this book. Highly recommend.

This guy seems to be a detailed, intuitive thinker/learner, and thinks its in everybodys best interest to become one too. Or we should all think the way he does.Read more

Mark Twain

Dry and very long winded

Muy buen e interesante libro de Gladwell, enseñanzas bastante importantes para el mundo de los negocios de hoy y desarrollo profesional.

Eduardo Pimentel

Excelente!