Blink

“We have come to confuse information with understanding.”

5/5⭐

I never get to the end of a Malcom Gladwell book without having some preconceived notion turned on its head.

He is the master of taking our assumptions and revealing to us—through a skillful mix of story and analysis—that we are dead wrong.

This book is about the split-second decisions we make every day.

This subconscious part of our brain allows us to make it through the day without collapsing under the weight of having to carefully evaluate everything we see. It’s like a series of shortcuts that keep us moving forward in a world overloaded with information.

In many cases, this ability is positive and essential, but what happens when our split-second decision-making processes are flawed?

What about when our instincts fail us, and fail us consistently? Is it possible to train yourself to have a stronger, more proficient subconscious that makes more accurate evaluations, more often?

Gladwell argues that it is.

He prescribes a mix of awareness, experience, and the avid avoidance of simple solutions.

Sometimes it’s better to slow down and really evaluate a situation, sometimes it’s better to go with your gut. It may seem obvious which types of situations deserve detailed thought and which ones don’t, but read this book and I promise you will find your assumptions woefully inaccurate. I know I did.

There are no clean lines when it comes to the way humans think. We are far too complex for that.

An enthusiastic recommendation: Go to www.implicit.harvard.edu and take the Race IAT test. It will give you all the instructions. It takes ten minutes.

The study is about our subconscious preferences. Reading stats is one thing, but this study allowed me to FEEL my own subconscious making evaluations I wasn’t previously aware were happening.

I won’t say any more about it except that it floored me more than anything has in recent memory.

Underline-worthy quotes:

“The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the former."

"Spontaneity isn't random."