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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking |  | Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.99
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Seller: peacewgc
Rating:  1096 reviews
Sales Rank: 139
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0316010669
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.44
EAN: 9780316010665
ASIN: 0316010669
Publication Date: April 3, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant. Gladwell, the best-selling author of The Tipping Point, campaigns for snap judgments and mind reading with a gift for translating research into splendid storytelling. Building his case with scenes from a marriage, heart attack triage, speed dating, choking on the golf course, selling cars, and military maneuvers, he persuades readers to think small and focus on the meaning of "thin slices" of behavior. The key is to rely on our "adaptive unconscious"--a 24/7 mental valet--that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea. Gladwell includes caveats about leaping to conclusions: marketers can manipulate our first impressions, high arousal moments make us "mind blind," focusing on the wrong cue leaves us vulnerable to "the Warren Harding Effect" (i.e., voting for a handsome but hapless president). In a provocative chapter that exposes the "dark side of blink," he illuminates the failure of rapid cognition in the tragic stakeout and murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. He underlines studies about autism, facial reading and cardio uptick to urge training that enhances high-stakes decision-making. In this brilliant, cage-rattling book, one can only wish for a thicker slice of Gladwell's ideas about what Blink Camp might look like. --Barbara Mackoff
Product Description
In his #1 bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. In BLINK, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. How do we make decisions--good and bad--and why are some people so much better at it than others? That's the question Malcolm Gladwell asks and answers in BLINK. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology, examining case studies as diverse as speed dating, pop music, and the New Coke, Gladwell shows how the difference between good decision making and bad has nothing to do with how much information we can process quickly, but rather with the few particular details on which we focus. BLINK displays all of the brilliance that has made Malcolm Gladwell's journalism so popular and his books such perennial bestsellers as it reveals how all of us can become better decision makers--in our homes, our offices, and in everyday life.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 500
 another thought provoking book November 22, 2009
photondn (Florida, USA)
Malcolm Gladwell's Blink is about how unconscious thought, maybe can referred as instinct, affects human behavior and decision making.
For example, professionals do what they do without thinking because they have conditioned themselves on the basics so much so that they no longer have to think about it - they just do it. It is like chewing gum and walking at the same time. Two of those things are so basic that most people can do it without thinking about it and moreover while thinking about something else. It is these unthinking thoughts is what Blink describes.
Blink also describes about gut feelings. Gut feelings compel people to do or not to do things. Because of the nature of gut feelings, people cannot really describe why they have them. Blink discusses these undescribable gut feelings and how they help us and harm us.
Also, Blink talks about situations of TMI (Too Much Information) and how sometimes people who rely on gut and experience can survive and outsmart those who are armed with TMI. I thought the part about TMI was pretty good. Sort of makes me wonder if people who try to integrate TMI really know what they are doing.
I have read Outliers, The Tipping Point, and What the Dog Saw. To me, the story about panic and choking from the What The Dog Saw was an extension from Blink. Blink ranks about 2nd best from his books, Outliers being the best. From reading this book, it sort of makes me wonder how how he thinks and how he notices common subtleties of human life. Blink was a different book - it relates more to thought than behavior or effort.
Blink was a good book. I was left still thinking about the unconscious thoughts that Blink describes.
Thinking about Thinking November 20, 2009
K. Scott Proctor (Wilmington, DE USA)
"Blink," one in a series of excellent books by Malcolm Gladwell, is one of those rare publications that actually makes you think about how you think. This concept, covered in an engaging and entertaining voice by Gladwell, may seem confusing, strange, boring, or all of the above at first glance. Rest assured -- this book is anything but boring, strange, or confusing -- it is a wonderful publication that entertains and teaches in equal measure.
With a rhetorical style akin to that conveyed by Michael Pollen in In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, Gladwell presents readers with data and hypotheses. He carefully and logically supports his conclusion(s), but does not force his perspective on his readers. Gladwell's style, rather, is one of engaging and involving the reader on a journey of learning.
For the interested reader, Gladwell offers stories and characters that engage, and ideas and perspectives that stimulate thought. This is a wonderful book that is well worth a read.
 Blink November 16, 2009
Robert T. Petersen II
This was an interesting point of view. I think it was well researched, but does not share any of the counter-point to his position.
 Neither Power nor Thinking November 16, 2009
A. Fung
Just a long list of antedotes. Interesting for the first two seconds at best. Not useful reading.
A Real Eye Opener November 14, 2009
A. Bono (MO United States)
This book is a great read. Very engaging and thoughtful. The author provides some wonderful new insights into how we make decisions from the gut or at the blink of an eye. From this insight you can start making more intelligent decisions on how you take advantage of your instincts.
My only complaint and the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars is that the author doesn't give enough definitive advice about what we can do to better ourselves with the knowledge he provides. There are suggestions and hints but any conclusion is a little weak. Regardless, I have read this book twice and will read it again so I can continue to understand my own gut instincts and make better decisions in the blink of an eye.
If you enjoy this book, check out Emotional Intelligence. Although a little dry, Emotional Intelligence reflects some of the points made by Malcolm Gladwell in Blink.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 500
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