“First impressions are everything.” We’ve all heard it before, but how true is this? Well, according to Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, we have the potential to be very successful when we listen to these first impressions.
Our “hunches” can develop in a matter of seconds; this is illustrated when Gladwell reiterates a scene that happened at the Getty Museum in California. The museum was thinking about purchasing a very important ancient Greek statue that had recently made itself known to them. The asking price was around $10 million, so they spent a lot of time finding experts to test the materials and establish the authenticity of the piece. After a little over a year, they decided to buy it. However, after the purchase had been finalized, a famous art historian looked at the statue and, in almost no time, concluded that it was fake. Further investigations were made and the piece was proven to be forged; one look was demonstrated to be more accurate than over a year of research.
Gladwell goes on to analyze the power of thin-slicing in our brain, a process we are not conscious of. In using this mechanism, we unconsciously make decisions based on information we know to be true. An interesting factor of thin-slicing is that we often aren’t able to explain why we feel the way we do, we just do.
Gladwell continues to explain experiment after experiment that proves the theory and accuracy of thin-slicing, as well as using his own words to describe how he thinks our unconscious works.
Although this may sound grueling, Gladwell writes in an alluring way that makes the reader want to keep going even after all of the pages have been read. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, as it is an exciting insight into the way that we make decisions and develop impressions.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking. New York: Little, Brown, 2005. Print.
Our “hunches” can develop in a matter of seconds; this is illustrated when Gladwell reiterates a scene that happened at the Getty Museum in California. The museum was thinking about purchasing a very important ancient Greek statue that had recently made itself known to them. The asking price was around $10 million, so they spent a lot of time finding experts to test the materials and establish the authenticity of the piece. After a little over a year, they decided to buy it. However, after the purchase had been finalized, a famous art historian looked at the statue and, in almost no time, concluded that it was fake. Further investigations were made and the piece was proven to be forged; one look was demonstrated to be more accurate than over a year of research.
Gladwell goes on to analyze the power of thin-slicing in our brain, a process we are not conscious of. In using this mechanism, we unconsciously make decisions based on information we know to be true. An interesting factor of thin-slicing is that we often aren’t able to explain why we feel the way we do, we just do.
Gladwell continues to explain experiment after experiment that proves the theory and accuracy of thin-slicing, as well as using his own words to describe how he thinks our unconscious works.
Although this may sound grueling, Gladwell writes in an alluring way that makes the reader want to keep going even after all of the pages have been read. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, as it is an exciting insight into the way that we make decisions and develop impressions.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking. New York: Little,
Brown, 2005. Print.