Monday, May 28, 2007

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Non-fiction


This book is all about your subconscious and how we make snap decisions. To be honest, I found some of the stuff to contradict other parts in the book. That could be because I didn't quite understand what Gladwell was setting out to prove until the very end of the book. Or maybe I knew at the beginning, then forgot about it until the end. Though one point he did drive home well with me was the fact that we can take actions to prevent us from making snap decisions that are bad.
There were many little points in this book that were fascinating. I would tell people at work or my family about points in the book just randomly because they were so intriguing. I thought the bit about professor ratings was very interesting. Being able to judge a professor in 2 minutes with no sound similar to someone that takes an entire course with them is quite unbelievable.
I find that with books like this, it is really important for the author to get his tone correct with the reader. You don't want to read something that is over you head, but you also don't want the author to take a condescending tone. The tone of this book was perfect. It was like someone talking to you that is excited about their findings in research and want to share all the interesting bits with you.
It's too bad that we can't unlock our subconscious to help us out more. But if anything, this book should tell you to trust your gut (or should that be subconscious?) more than you normally would.


Rating:

(4/5)

3 comments:

Dewey said...

This book is on my wishlist, so I'm glad to see you giving it so many stars. I love that you and your mother share a blog. And I notice you have one of the blogs by women chiclets. Is that where you found my blog?

Dana said...
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Dana said...

I found your blog though Lotus Reads and then again though WestofMars. It is funny how interconnected this world of books really is:)