16. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell

(1) One of the best books I've ever read, and (2) my new favorite author.
Blink is about rapid cognition, or the type of thinking that happens in the "blink" of an eye. Gladwell uses the term "thin slicing" to describe how you can figure out what's going on in a situation by taking just a thin slice of the experience - observing for a very short time. He talks about this psychologist who can observe a conversation between a husband and wife for fifteen minutes and can predict with 90% accuracy whether that couple will be married fifteen years later (umm, why do marriage counseling? why not just talk to this guy?).
Gladwell gives so many GREAT stories about examples of his theory - gender associations, the Amadou Diallo incident and police decisions to use deadly force, branding and marketing, and profiling (racial and other). Do you know why police departments often have their officers patrol alone these days, rather than with partners? "When police officers are by themselves, they slow things down; with a partner, they speed things up." I.e. with a partner, they're more inclined to act without thinking. I'll add my own two cents and say there's probably some ego at play, too. Gladwell theorizes that people can become "temporarily autistic" in some situations where they're unable to read situations and act blindly.
This seemed a lot like "intuition" to me ... but in an interview with the author, he says that he doesn't like the word "intuition" (and actually doesn't use it once in his book) because it's more of an emotional, irrational reaction - what he's talking about is completely "rational," just done very quickly. You just have to learn what signs to look for in a matter of seconds.

This is the second book I've read by this guy - and I've read each in one sitting. The substance is fascinating and he's a phenomenal writer (very readable and witty). Actually, the moment I finished this one and put it down, I realized I hadn't stood up or eaten for five hours! Outliers is on deck ... when's this guy coming out with another book??

*Want to do a really interesting test on your perceptions of people of different races, religions, personalities, etc.? Go to https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/ . It might tell you a lot about yourself ...