Shelfari‘Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking’ is a rather interesting book on how people often behave when faced with a decision without much time to think. The author, Malcolm Gladwell, persues different studies and situations to back up his theory of how people process information and make decisions.
When I first read this book I thought it was going to be an Occidental explanation for something that has been studied for centuries in the Orient. I thought it would be explaining the concept of Zen, or of knowing exactly what do to without thinking. However, it goes much more in depth than that. Zen as a concept is a way of training the body and mind so that normally voluntary movements become so practiced that they become almost involuntary. While that is discussed in the book, Mr. Gladwell also discusses people who have little or no training in a particular situation and how they behave when faced with a dilemma. Another aspect discussed is if people choose wiser given equal time and different levels of information. Education and training are factored in all parts of the subject discussed.
Mr. Gladwell comes to some interesting conclusions in the book. The conclusions are food for thought, but hardly hard science. He only talks about one or two studies per sub section, but he does discuss them thoroughly and shows how they support his hypothesis. I will say that he wrote a book that is engaging. The subject matter could have been written more dry and scientific, but Mr. Gladwell does a decent job of storytelling as well as presenting what facts he has. Another good thing about the book is when possible he presents real life results to actions that also support his hypothesis. The example of the Cook County emergency room was fantastic.
Overall I really liked the book and while the book is not for everyone I would recommend it for anyone who is interested in studying how humans think.
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