Subliminal Decisions

One of my Summer reads was a self-help book — Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking — by Malcolm Gladwell. The book covers topics on rapid thinking, snap judgements, stereotypes, emotions, the role of time, frugality of information, and the role of past experiences. Malcolm presents a psychological term called “thin-slicing” to discuss the mind's ability to form a quick decision solely based on past experience and a minimum amount of information in a brief time. How the unconscious thought overpowers a logically thought-out decision and how thin-slicing can be beneficial are masterfully described in the book.

Malcolm also references cases where thin-slicing has produced negative outcomes. One example includes the case of how the New York City police officers who killed Amadou Diallo made a series of horrendous snap judgments. Thereon, Malcolm analyzes thin-slicing in the context of speed-dating, tennis, gambling, military war games, and classical music. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking will challenge readers to think, rebuff existing knowledge, and absorb all the insights.