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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking | 
 enlarge | Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  991 reviews
Sales Rank: 48
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 0316010669
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.44
EAN: 9780316010665
Publication Date: April 3, 2007
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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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| Customer Reviews: Read 986 more reviews...
 Some good points. January 5, 2009
There are some relevant points in this book. The main point that I gathered from this reading is that our unconscious does some of the thinking for us, and decisions relating to this thinking are some of the best. However, if people were to think why they made these decisions, then they might not understand why they made the decision they made. Some of these decisions are based on intuition and result in good choices.
I believe this book to be the scraps left over from the Tipping Point. This book is written along the same lines, but some of this material seems to have less of a scientific appeal for me. I believe there are many relevant points in this book.
This is an OK read. I liked the Tipping Point and will see how I feel about Outliers.
 More relevant than ever with recent election January 4, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is about impressions, biases, judgments, decision making and nonverbal communication. If you want to understand the Obama phenomenon and where its headed, read the chapter "The Warren Harding Error". Good book.
 Is this a book? January 4, 2009
I am not sure why this is a book. Anecdotes, anecdots, anecdotes.... Is there anything here that is actually researched and studied? A hundred stories does not a coherent theory make. This is typical Gladwell, big statements, good stories, poorly thought through thesis, bold assertions with no proof, keep cheerily going on, one book to the next. Good for killing time on a beach, but why would I pay for this advice?
Thought Provoking with Interesting Stories - bit confused January 1, 2009
Based around the concept of thin-slicing, this book promotes the idea that your initial thoughts / gut feeling are often the right way to proceed (but not always). There are many case studies to hammer in the point and look at it from different perspectives. I feel the concept was a bit oversold, confused, and not pulled together nicely at the end.
In terms of the fundamental concept that we can learn to make better and faster decisions when we filter out excess data, I agree. This particularly holds if you are experienced in the field (i.e. with experience comes intuition).
As for the "Compelling", "Astonishing" and "Brilliant" words being used to describe this book, I think that maybe "Thought Provoking with Interesting Stories" might be a better way to describe it.
Insights into race December 31, 2008
The people who reviewed this book poorly may not have to deal with race issues. Even though I'm Navajo, Gladwell makes some astute humanitarian and race observations that have whirled around in my head for years. He makes affirmations about my theories of race and our denials of our repressed feelings. I did the test of associating good with African American image, and I even struggled with it. I liked Gladwell's honest approach.
He also exhibits a great writing style. Though I read Blink several weeks ago, I'm still talking about it. My gushing comments inspired friends to buy the book for friends, spouses, and even themselves. Get this, I broked away from my gym workout to discuss Blink with a friend. Since I take my gym seriously, this is an all time new one. I've lent my copy out, and when I get it back, I want to explore the researchers of classifying facial expressions. In the meantime, I'll get Tipping Point.
Thank you, Malcolm, for your work. It's great to find an author who sees the world as I do. We must find avenues to get along without the superficial talk and denial. I'll write again if I mimic my reaction at the gym after reading Tipping Point.
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