Blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell, who is a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of the popular book "The tipping Point - How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference" wrote this bestselling book "Blink" which is acclaimed as "one of the most influential books of the past decade.

Blink is combines the study of inner processes of the brain and how they manifest in society through decision-making and  what might otherwise be credited to intelligence.  But, Gladwell argues, thinking is much more complex than that.  He presents case study after case study to show that some people can make decisions with very little information in a matter of seconds whereas others, can have considerable data and not be able to choice wisely.  He describes situations where a person seems to have amazing abilities to think and assess against others where considerable analysis led to incorrect choices.  His conclusion involves the term "thin-slicing" which he defines as "filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables".

The book's 244 pages offer an extremely interesting and even compelling read.  Its introduction, conclusion and six chapters discuss first impressions, using limited information to make decisions, the ability of making snap decisions, creating structure for spontaneity, making judgement errors, how to ask people about what they want, mind reading and listening with your eyes.  Each chapter offers a fascinating perspective that is backed up with examples. 

I believe that this book definitely falls into the category of "self-self" because it lives up to it's subtitle of "The power of Thinking without Thinking".  We all do it but now Mr. Gladwell explains how the process works.

This is a definite read and one of my very favourite books in my library.