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Name: Blink
Rating: 4 (654 reviews)
Author: Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell

The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

4 (654 ratings)

14 mins

Brief summary

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell delves into the power of intuition and its role in decision-making, revealing how snap judgments can be surprisingly accurate.

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Manipulation Decision-Making

Table of Contents

Blink
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Learn how to use unconscious snap judgments to your benefit.

Do you trust your intuition when making decisions?

If so, there’s a few things you should know about it:

First, you probably use it a whole lot more than you realize. Even in cases where you think you’ve analyzed a situation rationally and come up with some solid reasoning for your choice, you’re probably just backing up your initial gut feeling.

Second, your intuition can often produce better judgments than a thoughtful analysis. This is because it cuts through all the irrelevant information, and focuses on just the key factors. But the downside is that it’s also affected by all manner of unconscious factors like preconceptions and prejudices that can lead you astray.

Knowing when to trust your intuition and when not to is crucial to making good decisions.

In these blinks you’ll discover:

why the best-tasting cola brand ever launched failed miserably,
why some art forgery experts trust their gut more than a rational analysis, and
how one man was elected the President of the United States just for his looks.

Don’t distrust your intuitive judgments - they can often be superior to your conscious ones.

The human brain relies on two strategies to make decisions in any given situation:

One strategy is to consciously record and process information, weigh the pros and cons, and come to a rational conclusion about the best way to go. This kind of information processing is very slow, and in some situations there’s just not enough time for it.

And so, over the course of human evolution, a second and much faster strategy has developed: quick as lightning, the unconscious makes snap judgments based on gut feelings rather than thorough analysis.

This second decision-making strategy allows the brain to unload some of the strain of its complex thought processes to the unconscious. Beneath the surface, unbeknownst to us, the unconscious part of the brain processes situations in the blink of an eye and makes decisions about the best course of action.

Many people tend to only trust their conscious judgments and are uneasy about decisions based on their feelings or intuition. However, it turns out that snap decisions are frequently far superior to those made after a thorough analysis.

As examples, consider that there are tennis experts who can intuitively predict when a player will serve a fault, although they are unable to pinpoint exactly why. And there are art experts who can spot a forged piece of art at first glance just because they have an odd feeling and can only rationally explain their snap judgment later.

In many situations, there are patterns and regularities that the unconscious recognizes faster than the conscious and logical mind. It’s precisely in these moments that we should trust our snap decisions.

Our unconscious can differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information in a mere split second.

Though thoroughness can often be a virtue, in decision-making it rarely makes sense to scrutinize every last bit of available information. Usually it’s more effective to concentrate on a few important facts and block out the rest.

Let’s say you’re observing a couple and want to accurately predict whether their relationship will last. To do so, it’s best to concentrate on a few particular key signs: if you spot a hint of contempt in their interactions, for example, that’s a strong indicator that problems could be on the road ahead.

We make far more snap judgments than we realize, and often invent rational explanations for them later.

We constantly use snap judgments in everyday life. When it comes to love, for example, we know if we feel attracted to a person the instant we meet them. Football players on the other hand use their “goal instinct” to help them automatically move into a scoring position. Some investors even listen to their back pains to know when it’s time to sell their stocks.

In all of these situations, the decisions are reached in the unconscious part of the brain.

Our decisions are greatly influenced by our unconscious associations.

The unconscious influences our actions in a very specific way.

For example, in one study a group of people were asked to play Trivial Pursuit, but before starting they were divided into two groups and given a task: the first group was asked to think about what it would mean to be a professor while the other thought about what it would mean to be a football hooligan.

Stress can make us temporarily autistic and drive us to wrong judgments.

Would you be surprised to hear that you’re telepathic? In fact, we can all read minds. All we have to do is look at a person’s face: emotional expressions reveal precisely what that person is thinking.

What’s more, scientists have shown that emotional expressions are a universal phenomenon. Everyone in every region of the world can recognize a happy, angry or sad facial expression.

Market research is not always a good indicator of true consumer behavior.

It’s a market researcher’s job to figure out which products will work well on the market and which won’t. Nevertheless, researchers often fail to predict consumer behavior.

For example, several decades ago, Coca Cola carried out a number of taste tests and was forced to conclude that its rival, Pepsi, scored much higher than Coke. As a response, the company changed its recipe and introduced a new kind of Coke to the market, aptly named New Coke. All taste tests indicated it would be a huge hit.

To rid yourself of your prejudices, go out and experience new things.

Would you say people these days still have racial prejudices?

Using simple association tests, psychologists have shown that racial prejudices are in fact deeply anchored in people. For example, it has been demonstrably shown that many US citizens find it more difficult to associate positive qualities with the word “black” than with the word “white.” Incredibly enough, this unconscious prejudice has even been found among the black populace.

If you want to avoid bad snap judgments, ignore all irrelevant information.

By now you’ve seen how strongly unconscious prejudices and stereotypes can influence your decisions. If you want to avoid this, you have to consciously shield yourself from potentially misguided information.

For instance, for many years, the prevailing opinion in the music world was that only men could be professional musicians like violinists or bass players. Women, regardless of how talented they were, were not considered viable candidates for the job. Simply put, they were the victims of stereotyping and prejudice.

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What is Blink about?

Blink examines the phenomenon of snap judgments, meaning the split-second decisions we make unconsciously. These snap judgments are important decision-making tools, but can also lead to bad choices and all manner of problems. Blink explains how we can best make use of them.

Blink Review

Blink (2005) explores the fascinating world of rapid cognition and decision-making. Here's why you should read it:

It uncovers the hidden power of intuition and how it influences our lives.
The book combines scientific research, real-life examples, and engaging anecdotes to illustrate its points.
It challenges conventional wisdom and transforms the way we think about decision-making.

Discover the surprising truth behind snap judgments by reading Blink today.

Best quote from Blink

Did they know why they knew? Not at all. But they knew!

—Malcolm Gladwell

Who should read Blink?

Anyone interested in intuition and decision-making
Anyone interested in ridding themselves of their prejudices and stereotypes
Anyone who wants to know when to trust their intuition

About the Author

Malcolm Gladwell is a Canadian journalist and author. He has previously published the bestsellers The Tipping Point and Outliers, both available in blinks.

Categories with Blink

Psychology Motivation & Inspiration

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