Blink is about intuition – about how we trust our gut and make split-second decisions without being aware or able to explain how and why we made them.
How reliable are intuitive decisions compared to those we make consciously and deliberately – based on careful collection and analysis of data and conclusions drawn from it?
According to best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell, extremely reliable. And he provides a convincing explanation and numerous entertaining examples.
There is, for example, the art expert who recognizes at first glance that a sculpture costing millions of dollars and scientifically examined is a fake. The firefighter who suddenly orders his crew out of a house seconds before it collapses. And the marriage counselor who needs to observe a couple for only a few minutes to accurately predict how long their marriage will last.
All of these people cannot explain their actions. According to Gladwell, however, this is by no means because they have not processed information. They merely did so unconsciously.
Decades of experience are stored widely in their brains and are processed unconsciously almost instantaneously. Thus, the brain arrives at the same – or an even better – result in seconds than after hours or days of conscious deliberation.
But caution is advised. The subconscious can also be deceived. Warren G. Harding, for example, was elected U.S. president primarily because of his statesmanlike appearance – and turned out to be one of the worst presidents in American history.
Another example is "racial bias": Many people tend to assign negative terms to black people and positive terms to white people. Depending on cultural conditioning, even black people are subject to this bias.
The book is easy to read and highly entertaining, thanks to the many compelling stories. It makes you aware of unconscious choices and makes you think about when to trust your intuitions and when not to.
🎧 Suitable as an audio book? Yes.
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