danicamidlil's review against another edition
3.0
Not quite as meaty and thorough as Outliers was. The book is over, but I still want more info, examples, and how to make the change to my snap decision-making process that Gladwell has almost convinced me I need to make.
simazhi's review against another edition
4.0
Don't blink
Or do. Similar to Thinking fast, thinking slow, but very nice book to read. Better than Gladwell's David and Goliath, not as good as Outliers.
Or do. Similar to Thinking fast, thinking slow, but very nice book to read. Better than Gladwell's David and Goliath, not as good as Outliers.
iudouj's review against another edition
4.0
I think I've finally come to terms with the fact that Malcolm Gladwell doesn't really come to concrete conclusions. He just tells really interesting anecdotes and I'm not upset about it.
mdettmann's review against another edition
3.0
Gladwell knows how to write an interesting book on a topic that was cool and all, but I still feel like it was missing something to make his theories and anecdotes hold true. I still think it takes a more thinking than blinking to make important decisions.
rebeccazh's review against another edition
another interesting book on the way the mind works. reading this right after [b:Thinking, Fast and Slow|11468377|Thinking, Fast and Slow|Daniel Kahneman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317793965l/11468377._SX50_.jpg|16402639] was quite interesting because in some ways they contradict but complement each other. this book should have cut down on the descriptions/explanations of case studies. they're SO long and could have been summarized much more succinctly.
what i learned:
- our unconscious is much more powerful than we think; we take in lots of tiny details and impressions in a split second that we don't consciously register and then we form what seems like a strong intuitive judgment (thin-slicing) and it can often be quite accurate. for instance, our faces often form microexpressions that come and go so fast that we don't consciously notice it, but our unconscious often does. it's how we sometimes get that feeling that someone is being false although they behave in a very friendly way
- we don't realize how much our intuition makes decisions for us. we often think we have 'aha' moments that arise out of nowhere, but it is sometimes because we saw something and then we made a connection
- it's important to know that we have both conscious values and unconscious bias. the implicit association test by havard gives a good indicator of our unconscious bias. the author of this book, a black man, gave a compelling example. his conscious values are to treat people fairly and without racial bias, but the implicit association test showed that he associated black people with negative judgments, despite being black himself. he goes on to conclude that we are shaped by two things: societal brainwashing shaping our unconscious judgments, and choice shaping our conscious values. this might explain that sociology concept of unconscious racism. luckily, we can use priming to hijack our unconscious - in other words, consume content that portrays black people in a positive way to sort of 'rewrite' our unconscious. which also suggests to me that a conscious choice in the media we consume is very important, if we are so easily suggestible
overall, an interesting book and made me better understand how complex and messy our minds are.
what i learned:
- our unconscious is much more powerful than we think; we take in lots of tiny details and impressions in a split second that we don't consciously register and then we form what seems like a strong intuitive judgment (thin-slicing) and it can often be quite accurate. for instance, our faces often form microexpressions that come and go so fast that we don't consciously notice it, but our unconscious often does. it's how we sometimes get that feeling that someone is being false although they behave in a very friendly way
- we don't realize how much our intuition makes decisions for us. we often think we have 'aha' moments that arise out of nowhere, but it is sometimes because we saw something and then we made a connection
- it's important to know that we have both conscious values and unconscious bias. the implicit association test by havard gives a good indicator of our unconscious bias. the author of this book, a black man, gave a compelling example. his conscious values are to treat people fairly and without racial bias, but the implicit association test showed that he associated black people with negative judgments, despite being black himself. he goes on to conclude that we are shaped by two things: societal brainwashing shaping our unconscious judgments, and choice shaping our conscious values. this might explain that sociology concept of unconscious racism. luckily, we can use priming to hijack our unconscious - in other words, consume content that portrays black people in a positive way to sort of 'rewrite' our unconscious. which also suggests to me that a conscious choice in the media we consume is very important, if we are so easily suggestible
overall, an interesting book and made me better understand how complex and messy our minds are.