Blink

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Back Bay Books (April 3, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316010669
ISBN-13: 978-0316010665

Similar to his documentary style in Tipping Point, Gladwell discusses the power of the subconscious snap judgments.

Does having more information mean having more power? It doesn't seem so. His discussion concludes that information-overload can lead us to make worse decisions than making snap judgments. This is because we often absorb excessive and unnecessary information that confounds with the relevant ones that help us to make the correct decision. Pondering and over-analyzing can confuse us more often than not. The skill here is to know how to filter the information.

Experts in different fields come about from long term exposure to their subject matter. They filter information effectively and efficiently because they have 'trained' themselves to do so. Exposure develops expertise.

A common example most can relate too for the above 2 points: Driving. It would be almost impossible for anyone to take account of all these at anyone time when driving - action of the hand on the gear, sequence of checking the mirrors, which leg on the clutch and the accelerator, how deep to breathe, talking, steering the wheel etc. If we micromanage all these actions to the detail, information overload would make us really lousy drivers. But we drive 'instinctively' and filter all the little details, it would so much more natural and comfortable to drive.

Gladwell also talks about how we are primed to do certain things because our subconscious takes over. We easily change our minds in different contexts and we process information differently between the short run and the long term. Long term exposure develops unconscious associations and guides our future thinking and filtering processes.

The book is peppered with other interesting information. One I remember is that there should not be any contempt in marriages.

I conclude that after reading this book, there seems as though there is nothing I can change. I can't think faster, or think without thinking. But the awareness of such helps me to be more cautious of my decisions, and that snap decision-making can be very good as well.