Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Entrepreneur Spencer Schar is an avid reader in his spare time, counting Malcolm Gladwell among his favorite writers. This article will look at Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell’s bestselling book, which explores the concept of using intuitive judgement to make snap decisions that ultimately lead to positive outcomes.

In the book, Gladwell describes a process called “thin-slicing,” which essentially involves using limited information from a narrow period of experience to arrive at a conclusion. Thin-slicing is a term used in the fields of psychology and philosophy to describe the process of making quick inferences about the characteristics, details, or state of an individual or situation by weighing up only minimal amounts of information. Research suggests that snap judgements based on thin-slicing can be just as precise or even as accurate as judgements formed with the benefit of much more information.

The part of the brain responsible for making snap decisions is known as the “adaptive unconscious.” Research suggests that humans can process complex data in as little as two seconds and potentially much faster than that, with some scientists suggesting that the human brain can complete this process in as little as 25 milliseconds. Certain key factors are necessary to enable people to make these judgements correctly. Improving focus on these factors paves the way for enhanced decision making, Gladwell’s book suggests.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking argues that intuitive judgement is developed through training, knowledge, and experience, explaining that prejudice operates at an unconscious, intuitive level, even in individuals whose conscious attitudes are unbiased. One example cited by Gladwell is the halo effect, where a person with one salient, positive quality is deemed superior in other unrelated aspects.

In his book, Malcolm Gladwell references numerous examples of thin-slicing, illustrating the human brain’s capacity to provide answers to complex yes or no questions quickly. Nevertheless, Gladwell theorizes that this process starts to break down when questions are presented unbounded.

In Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell suggests that spontaneous decision making can be just as effective, if not more so, than carefully considered choices. To reinforce this notion, the author draws on a wide range of examples from a variety of different fields, from science and medicine to sales and advertising to sports and military war games. Malcolm Gladwell also references individual experiences of thin-slicing from regular people, discussing humankind’s instinctive ability to mind-read, gauging an individual’s thoughts and emotions simply by looking at his or her face.