A review by acsaper
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

3.0

Another almost cutesy pop-science book from Gladwell. Easy to read and super interesting though the majority of it is dedicated to presenting anecdotal examples of the 'blink' concept.

Breezed through it pretty quickly as I wasn't incredibly absorbed by it but did manage to draw a couple pieces of interesting info from it. Seems like most of us make a good amount of decisions based on very little information, despite telling ourselves otherwise. While we often think that the more information we utilize, the more accurate or precise our decision making will be. In doing so, we often over look the incredible power we retain to make snap judgments on a variety of topics using a 'power' that Gladwell refers to as rapid cognition.

Rapid cognition however can work both for, and against us. One of the biggest problems with it seems to be that the more ingrained something becomes, the harder it is for us to think clearly about it and not revert to our snap decisions. This can have markedly negative effects, for example, when people who have not been exposed to those of different ethnic backgrounds are suddenly confronted by a person of a different race.

On the other hand,there are the 'experts,' those who in any given field has simply had so much exposure to a topic that they are able to thin slice, or rapid dissect, any information pertaining to the subject without so much as 'thinking.'

An interesting introduction to the concept of rapid cognition and definitely an approachable book for people of all ages and backgrounds.