Learn how to make more money by getting our free guide here. Prejudging is the kiss of death. Thanks for introducing these awesome books. They don’t need to look at your whole face to get what’s going on. Hi! I really need to get into the habit of reading more. I love his books because they do make you stop and think about your own life relative to whatever subject he’s discussing. I love the way he breaks down complex subjects into easily digestible material. There are things we like because we like them and things we don’t like because we don’t like them. For people making these decisions, it is also important to note that consumers are known to react negatively to new products that are seen as innovative. The book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell was first published in 2005. On the one hand, it is important to understand how intuition is able to look past information that is not relevant to the situation. Often times, your intuition is a better source of judgment than even a more thorough analysis. It’s been a few years since I read those books, I might need to read them again to refresh my memory. These snap judgments are made based on preconceived notions of things, such as what success might look like. I loved both Blink and Outliers (although I prefer Outliers). He talks about situations involving psychologists trying to determine if a marriage will end in divorce, outcomes of police and criminal encounters, emotion recognition, and war situations. However, for the most part, people prefer to have facts in front of them before they make a decision, rather than just listening to their gut. Everyday, people are making snap judgments. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own. When we are stressed, we tend to ignore things like facial expressions and other signals that are considered indirect. Gladwell demonstrates the point by telling the story of a famous orchestra who decided to put up screens to audition their musicians, so they only heard the music rather than judge the contender by looks, attitutde, the way they held the instrument etc. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005) is Malcolm Gladwell's second book. In order to avoid losing focus, we need to slow down and reduce stress. Gladwell is definitely one of my favorite authors. Many times when we grow up as kids, we are told to think critically and logically. Thanks for the comment Max. When we make split-second decisions, we are really vulnerable to being guided by our stereotypes and prejudices, even ones we may not necessarily endorse or believe. Being able to make a decision using your gut feeling can be both a good thing and a bad thing, and it is important to know when it’s good and when it’s bad. Do you have any suggestions for me? There are many different personal finance terms and concepts, and it can get confusing. Even in modern times, prejudice is a thing that exists. Unrealistic conditions can play a major factor in making the wrong call as a market researcher. Gladwell touches quite a bit on Pareto’s 80/20 – arguing that 80% of a social or cultural phenomenon can actually be attributed to 20% of the people involved, and he really delves into what types of people are able to initiate and spread social trends/changes. Even in the most complicated of relationships and problems, there is a clear and identifiable pattern. In Blink, Gladwell celebrates quick decisions and encourages readers to ponder the role of instincts. However, there are ways to avoid this, as long as you are willing to shield yourself from misinformation. Typically there are a lot of irrelevant details that can actually hide the more important ones. This is a great in-depth review; thanks for writing! Your IP: 51.254.248.9 However, operating under stress can be controlled through taking a walk, breathing long and deep breathes, and relaxing before going back into the heat of the moment. The rest of this post includes a summary of Blink, takeaways from Blink, and a reading recommendation for you. I may have to read Tipping Point in the near future. Unfortunately, in a high stress environment, a person’s ability to read a situation will decline rapidly. The Mastermind Within is a professional site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we recommend. Also, not everything needs to be explained. An interesting rule of thumb is that making decisions should occur when you have between 40% and 70% of the relevant information on a situation. The job of a market researcher is to determine what consumers want and what will work within the market. • Our unconscious mind can have a major influence on the way we act. I'm passionate about helping you improve as a person, get better with your finances, and create your dream life over time. Being thorough can be seen as a good thing when making a decision. Malcolm Gladwell Blink summary by chapter 5 In chapter 5 of Malcolm Gladwell’s, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, he takes a new twist on the idea of thin-slicing, which he describes as, “the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience” (23). I don’t really listen to podcasts but many people think they are beneficial. Blink is all about examining situations like this, and getting to the root cause of the thoughts during these moments. The second strategy our brain uses is intuition, meaning we listen to our gut based on a snap judgment. You are welcome Leo I’m glad I can provide some value to you. Since the police officer is under stress, and cannot fully understand the situation, they sometimes will make the wrong gut call. To see this page as it is meant to appear, please enable your Javascript! Thanks for stopping by Jane. I can’t wait for season 2. The world isn’t the city I’m in; there are 7 billion+ people on this Earth, each with a unique story to tell. In a split second, you have already made up your mind; he is out to get you and is not your friend. The more stress we are under, the more we become blind to the signs around us. It is because of this need for facts and figures that most people look for a way to rationalize their judgments after they make them. I read The Tipping Point years ago and loved it! I thought it was really great and well done. In order to avoid prejudices and stereotypes, we need to ignore information that is not relevant to the decision actually being made. I hope my summaries are helping everyone else who reads! However, in many cases researchers are unable to accurately predict the behavior of consumers. In many cases, this means associating specific characteristics with things like success or failure. Sometimes the best decisions are made with instinct and trusting that our guts are right. What happened in that split second? Our attitude will shift thanks to these new experiences and the chance to engage with people from different walks of life. By understanding how these split-second decisions are made, from a psychological perspective, we can better understand the human psyche and come up with ways to better navigate some of these tough situations. However, the problem with this particular strategy is that it can be very slow and not ideal in certain situations where you need to make a snap decision. Throughout the book, Gladwell discusses the concept of “thin-slicing”, or the unconscious mind’s ability to find patterns and meaning in the most fleeting “slices” of experience and impressions. In Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, you will learn more about how your instincts are being backed up by further analysis of a situation, as well as how important your intuition really is. If you are a business person looking to determine how a product will do on the market, it is important to make sure you are using realistic conditions to make a decision. However, there are ways to push past these prejudices. Cloudflare Ray ID: 5e5fa8288941ee0f The other book I can think of is Freakanomics, but that’s an oldie so I feel that most people have read that one. Why did you make a quick judgement on that man? However, there are certain people who may not recognize non-verbal signs of how a person is feeling. Your email address will not be published. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell, looks at thought processes when making decisions; in particular, our thought processes when making split second decisions. When we make split-second decisions, we are really vulnerable to being guided by our stereotypes and prejudices, even ones we may not necessarily endorse or believe. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. I’ve read almost all his books, including Blink, he’s a great author. Blink is an enjoyable read, and a relatively quick read. The more we get used to something new, the more likely we are to like this new thing. For example, personal finance is fairly complex. You don’t need all of the information to make a decision, and sometimes your best guess will actually be the best! But did you know that someone experiencing stress and extreme pressure can find themselves in a situation where they are rendered “autistic” in terms of being unable to recognize non-verbal signals? And as those pressures increase and stress rises, people can become unpredictable as logic goes out the window. See instructions. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Blink would be a fantastic book for you if you are interested in learning more about human’s thinking processes or decision making. On the other hand, you will also get a look at the drawbacks to this, as internal prejudices and perceptions can have a negative impact on the way you judge something. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, The Complete Guide to Earning More Money in Your 20s and 30s, Living Intentionally with Proactive Behavior, Applying the Concept of Compound Interest in All Areas of Life. Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. Malcolm Gladwell's Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is his second work. The first strategy that our brain uses is recording and processing information, looking at the pros and cons of a situation, and reaching a conclusion that seems rational. Get your free goals guide below, or browse through the 6 portal pages after the guide form. Rather than focusing on the signals, we develop a form of tunnel vision and find ourselves focusing on the immediate stressors or what we believe to be the most important bits of information. Have you read The Tipping Point, Outliers, or David and Goliath? On straightforward decisions, deliberate analysis is best. With the help of Blink, you will understand how decision making can be impacted by knowing when to follow your intuition and when you need to further analyze a situation. On complex decisions, our unconscious thought processes may be superior. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell, looks at thought processes when making decisions; in particular, our thought processes when making split second decisions. I don’t think that I read enough books lately as I’ve been reading mostly personal finance articles and visiting blogs.