Total Waste Of Timee,BorBorBoringgg!!

Read "Tipping Point" and didn't like it. Then, some CEO at work decided everyone in his division should read "Blink". Oh no, not again. If you've read one, you've read the other. Nonsense.

super repetitive and surface level, literally just a book of anecdotes supporting the idea that we don't consciously analyze everything we do. very offensive/dehumanizing toward people with autism near the end for some reason.

This work is worth a read, if not more than one. I hesitate to say too much, since I believe the conclusions it reaches are explored in the very beginning and will immediately inform the reader of its relevance. I don't know why that came out so long winded, the reader will find out how interested they are by the first or second chapter.

I found the book fascinating for its close look into social interactions, particularly between two people, and for explaining why i sometimes I think the way that I do. The intuitive process of understanding is one that has made a lot of sense to me, and I am glad this book takes a microscope to that underpinning of society's operation. The examples in the book are relevant, timely and buttress the argument well. Especially the story about the psychologist that has a 90 percent success rate of whether a relationship would last past 7 years.
The author's decision to skip a little exposition on detractors from the intuitive system of problem solving was a little disappointing, although I do understand that Blink is not, nor pretends to be a scholarly work. Instead it purports to be a lighthouse for a part of our decision-making that is often ignored in society and stays hidden from our conscious understanding. We often don't know why we like or dislike someone the way we do, and yet we allow that judgment to affect our interaction extremely or waffle endlessly over trying to deny or prove our first impression. How many times do you remember saying " really wanted to like that," that being a dress or a person or a book and how much time has it wasted. Or why it sometimes take only a moment for a person to decide whether or not an idea has merit.
Gladwell explores those snap judgments in details, and writes in a readable, approachable way. He is not afraid to tackle some controversial topics.

A fascinating read. Just when I'd promised myself I'd stay out of the psych section for a while, Blink managed to lure me back.

While the author spends the first half of the book nearly pounding you into the ground with story after story and account after account of the power of unconscious snap decisions, I could appreciate the number of studies cited in the research. (He had me convinced in half of the time he actually took to do so; that's all I'm saying.) Gladwell balances an admiration for people who've developed savant-like capacities in their fields of expertise, while pointing out instances where such experts can actually handicap themselves by becoming too bogged down in details.

The second half of the book would appeal to anyone concerned with reading the complex and minute expressions in the human face. For those who may have enjoyed the television series "Lie To Me," this reads as the real-life basis behind the art of micro-expressions and deception detection.

I deeply appreciated the author's brief but penetrating look into the differing processes of a mind with Autism. He presents the concept that any overly-stimulated "normal" person can essentially exhibit autism-like perceptions, leading to a domino effect of misjudgements and faulty resulting actions.

In that same vein, he also sheds light on an array of controversial topics--particularly related to human biases and police-chases. I found myself with a new way of looking at errors made by over-stressed police officers and, consequently, a new respect for them.

At a classy dinner party, full of wasps and high society drab, Malcolm Gladwell is right up there on my list of people I would invite just to spice things up and make it interesting. Right alongside Dave Chappelle, Ted Dekker, and Helena Bonham Carter.

The man has a way of writing psychology in page-turning, brain-burning style. I haven't stayed up late, reading too long in a while, and when I did, was it a thriller or Halloween spook read? Nope. It was a book on psychology.

Highly recommend! I'd rate this book a PG.

This is pop psychology, pages and pages of narrative prose describing civil war battles, musical careers, and police chases in support of the premise that we underestimate the part of our mind that makes snap judgments.

Gladwell did some sort of research, but research in relation to psychology implies a thesis tested against authoritative sources. Assembling a series of cool stories and presenting them as case studies seems a little disingenuous.

The conclusion I reach is that OK we might benefit from viewing social prejudice as a scientific fact. We might benefit by becoming aware of situations where "rapid cognition" can improve our on the job perfomance. However, I think the reason this book is a bestseller is that people (myself included) tend to wander around Borders bookstore looking for some sort of shortcut to social insight. I regret to say I had my thumb up my ass to the extent that I felt it was important to read Blink.

This book explores the concept of unconscious thinking as evidenced by snap judgments and gut reactions. Quite frankly, I found the book to be based on research that is totally bunk - such as the Implicit Association Test which has been proven to be neither a reliable nor a valid test. The first chapter or two were somewhat interesting, but it quickly wore out its welcome when it started making huge claims that aren’t supported by broad and diverse case studies or comprehensive and reliable evidence.

Elsewhere, in one of my other recent reviews, a GoodReads friend (Richard) told me that he had become less infatuated with this book after reading a review by a specialist in the field who gave it a drubbing. I was worried that knowing this might ruin this book for me – but it has not. I really enjoyed this one too. This is the third of Gladwell’s books I’ve read in quick succession and this contained lots of information about things that have made me think and sparked my interest to learn more. It may well be that Gladwell’s style does not appeal to an expert in the field – and that is quite likely to be true, but I’ve found that it is often the case that I’ve been introduced to themes by popularisers and later went on to read more deeply on a subject. I rarely condemn those who introduce me to fascinating topics – and this is a fascinating topic.

I’m not going to do a full review, but rather quickly talk about wine. While he was talking about coke and about taste tests I was thinking about wine.

He makes the point that when asked to judge jam people do nearly as well as the experts if they are just asked which jam they liked the most, but do much worse than experts if asked to explain why they graded them in the order that they did. That is, if they have to talk about texture and sweetness and citrus flavours – people change how they judge jam and end up picking the worst jam rather than the best. This is because we don’t really know what ‘texture’ is and so trying to slot jams into categories that we don’t really understand means we are most likely to stuff up and confuse ourselves.

Now, wine. I wonder if anyone has ever done a test at cellar doors to see what people end up buying and if they pick the nicest wine for the price, or do they buy vinegar instead? I wouldn’t mind betting that there would be something similar happening here – and if you are with someone who says things like, “Oh yes, fruity, but with a back-taste of coal tar” you might end up buying something that is quite disgusting. You know, unless you actually have some idea of what you are talking about, it might be best to shut up and drink the wine.

That is the point of this book – learning when to trust your “immediate reactions” and when to question them. I think there is much in this book that is worth knowing and much that is fascinatingly interesting. (The stuff about unconscious racism is so important that everyone should be forced to read this for that alone). But with Richard, I am a little concerned that an expert in the field didn't like this book. All the same, the expert does recommend Made to Stick so I guess that can be the next book I read.

There is – as is proven by Dylan Moran – only one way to pick wine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw2gGf...

This book started out great. With case examples and interesting facts. I was listening to the audiobook narrated by the author himself and I was enjoying it a lot. I was sure it was going to unravel the power of our subconscious mind or what we call intuition. But as it went on I lost track of the actual subject of the book. At first, I thought it's because of the audiobook maybe I could not concentrate properly. So I switched to softcopy. But the situation was not better. Eventually, when I finished it, I could not relate everything that is presented in this book with its title. 3* for the first few sections when I enjoyed.

1 Star - Horrible book.

Against my better judgement I gave another one of Malcolm Gladwell's books a try. Oh, what precious reading time I wasted on this book! My feelings on this book are quite similar to how I felt about The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (my review) so I'll keep this review short.

My first thought after finishing this was: did I really just read 200+ pages on what is essentially the good and bad of gut reactions? There was nothing new for me here and that may not entirely be Gladwell's fault but nevertheless I could not enjoy this book. In addition to my lack of interest in the subject matter, I cannot enjoy the author's writing style. I feel he meanders and that there are so many unfinished thoughts and ideas. It drove me crazy!

By the end of the book I was frustrated and upset. I recommend this book to no one.

"We can learn a lot more about what people think by observing their body language or facial expressions or looking at their bookshelves."

Wow, this book definitely changed the way how I view myself, other people and things that have been happening around me.

Basically, Blink tells us to trust our instinct, because instinct or first impressions are often more accurate than conclusions arrived at after much study and analysis. But be careful, though, because: When we make a second split decision, we are also very vulnerable to being guided by our stereotypes and prejudices, even ones we may not necessarily endorse or believe.

So what is the practical solution to make a split second decision? This ability improves with practice. Apparently, our unconscious thinking is no different from our conscious thinking: in both, we are able to develop our rapid decision making with training and experience.

Probably one of the best psychology books that I’ve read. A well researched and insightful read. Blink.