Blink

Malcolm Gladwell

A review of blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell's new book is very well written and very interesting. Gladwell's premise is that each of us engage in 'thin slicing' continuously throughout our day. Thin slicing is the act of slicing time up into thin slices with each slice representing an unconscious decision based on the information available to us. Literally, these are decisions that we make in the blink of an eye.

The problem with this approach, as Gladwell demonstrates with a wide variety of examples, is that often decisions are made based on a priori conditioning, that is by the unconscious, with the decision making process being inhibited at times of tremendous stress (such as policemen at the end of a high speed chase or in a firefight situation).

On the other hand, Gladwell also argues that at times thin slicing is our friend if it is backed up by experience and expertise in a particular field. Such experts are able to ignore what is irrelevant and focus only on what is relevant.

The trick is to be able to distinguish between the times when it pays to trust one's instincts and those times when it is not. Better yet, citing evidence of policemen working individually on patrol rather than in pairs, it is advised to ensure there is some factor to ensure that you slow yourself down at appropriate times rather than just go with your instinctive reaction. With regard to individual versus paired police officers, it has been found that alone a police officer is more likely to be cautious and wait for back up at appropriate times rather than rush head first into situations with a partner with results that can sometimes be catastrophic due to the intensity of the situation and the demand for split second (perceived) life-or-death decisions.

I recommend this book because I believe it will foster a greater appreciation and insight into one's self. How you make decisions and when you probably should and shouldn't trust your own gut feeling.

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