Blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Title: Blink, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

• URL

• quite relating to book “thinking fast, thinking slow”

• get review text mostly from here url and here url2.

• Explain distinction between two processes for arriving at a decision.
  • 1. “Conscious Thinking (also known as rational decision making) is when we use logic to weigh the pros and cons of each choice and make a conscious decision. This process is effective, but it takes a long time.””
  • 1. “Unconscious Thinking (variously known as the adaptive unconscious, intuition, and making snap judgments) is when we make decisions without understanding why, or even realizing we’ve made them. This process is quick, but is sometimes colored by bias.””

• most of the book about mechanisms of unconscious thinking, or snap judgments.

• advantages of thin-slice:
  • 1) “They thin-slice: Our unconscious minds “thin-slice,” or find patterns in situations based on thin slices of experience. When we thin-slice, our unconscious picks out the information that is relevant and leaves the rest. This allows us to ignore distracting, superficial details and get to the heart of a problem or choice.”
  • 2) “The unconscious mind processes little bits of information and makes decisions about them all the time, without our being aware of it. This frees up the conscious mind to focus on tasks that only it can complete, like those involving logic.”
  • overthinking a problem can produce results much worse than simply respecting gut feelings.
• disadvantages of thin-slice:
  • 1) When we try to explain how we arrive at an unconscious decision, our explanations are inaccurate and sometimes problematic.
  • 2) thin-slicing uncovers the deep truths and relevant details needed to make a wise decision. But stress, time pressures, and biases can interrupt
• describe ways to improve insights and snap judgments with small tweaks and smart training.
  • Intriging Examples of products that succeed or fail due to minor shifts in the ways they’re perceived by the public. Chapter 6 chronicles the tragic death of Amadou Diallo. Expert at reading the subtle clues from micro-expressions, teaches the skill to police, helping them avoid situations like the Diallo shooting.
  • Plus The story of a female trombonist wins an audition by performing while hidden behind a screen.