Book Review: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

I finally had the opportunity to read Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink.

It’s a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, “Blink” is a book about those two seconds, because I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good.

The book is about those two second and a whole alot more. Malcolm draws on examples from science, advertising, sales, medicine, and popular music to reinforce his ideas. The best example is about an ex-Marine’s victory in a war-game simulation. He may have been out numbered and didn’t have the resources that the opposing team had. However, the ex-marine used his better judgement and ability to thin slice a situation until he came out on top.

The other example that really connected for me was about advertising. The example given was about the snap judgments that people make about food, advertising and if they are going to buy a product. The book went into a bit of detail about how research can aid firms looking to get into the food business and win…. especial if you are in the jam business. In the end the book is really about people and each one of us. The book taught me a bit about myself and how I go about  making those choices that effect the world around me. I don’t think I’ll change how I think slice people but I will be even more conscious of it.

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