Hardcover, 288 pages
English language
Published Jan. 11, 2005 by Time-Warner.
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005) is Malcolm Gladwell's second book. It presents in popular science format research from psychology and behavioral economics on the adaptive unconscious: mental processes that work rapidly and automatically from relatively little information. It considers both the strengths of the adaptive unconscious, for example in expert judgment, and its pitfalls, such as prejudice and stereotypes.
While the book taught me a thing or two, and was inspiring at times, it was a struggle to get through it. I got bored and it felt repetitive. The book was way longer than necessary. I mean, it wasn't that long, but it could have been an article.
As someone with no psychology expertise I am finding this an excellent read. It covers various ways our subconscious can influcence our judgement. The highlight for me was the section on IAT and racial bias.
Book #BookWyrm #GoodReads #Psychology
Blink is a fascinating look at "first impressions", the immediate, automatic processing that occurs unconsciously. Amazing things can happen in the first 2 seconds, influencing us in ways we don't know.
A tennis coach realized he can predict when a tennis player will double fault when he sees the them toss the 2nd serve, and he doesn't know how. Customers eating food from certain color packaging will think it tastes fresher. Famous statue critics 'just know' in their gut that a statue is fake, explainable only after months and months of detailed investigation.
Many have criticized this book for being short on theory and long on examples, but I find this to be one of the things that make the book so readable. This book is a collection of well-explained examples. It wouldn't make a good textbook for a course, but it's a great read.
