Book Review: “Blink: the power of thinking without thinking”

BLINK is a simple book, about how we actually think without thinking and the choices that follow such a thinking. The writer proves how the ... Articles BookReview ConflictofInterestStatement References SuggestaResearchTopic> DownloadArticle DownloadPDF ReadCube EPUB XML(NLM) Supplementary Material Exportcitation EndNote ReferenceManager SimpleTEXTfile BibTex totalviews ViewArticleImpact SuggestaResearchTopic> SHAREON OpenSupplementalData BOOKREVIEWarticle Front.Psychol.,19August2015 |https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01225 BookReview:“Blink:thepowerofthinkingwithoutthinking” KhushaliAdhiya* DepartmentofPsychology,DelhiPublicSchool,Ahmedabad,India AbookreviewonBlink:ThePowerofThinkingwithoutThinking byMalcolmGladwell,NewYork,NY:Little,BrownandCo.,2005.ISBN:978-0316010665 “Itdoesn'tfeelright!” Evercaughtyourselfsayingthis?Youprobablythenmayhavetolayyourhandsonunderstandingwhatdrivesthatfeelinginsideyou—afeelingthatiscompletelycontradictorytologicordecisionsmadeonthebasisoffacts.BLINKgivesyouthatunderstanding. BLINKiswrittenbypsychotherapistMalcolmGladwell,havingfourotherpopularcontributionstohiscreditsuchasTheTippingPoint,Outliers,etc.Gladwell'swritingoftencentersaroundunforeseenimplicationsofthesocialsciences'research.Hisbooks,articles,andspeechesarereceivedwithgreataccoladeanddespitehiscriticshavingdescribedhimas“pronetooversimplification,”IfounditquitetoanadvantageinhisbookBLINK.Thisbookisconsideredoneofhisfinestworksbyreviewersacrosstheglobe. BLINKisasimplebook,abouthowweactuallythinkwithoutthinkingandthechoicesthatfollowsuchathinking.Thewriterproveshowthechoiceswemakeinaninstant—intheblinkofaneye-aren'tthatsimpleastheyappeartobe.So,thisbookrevealstoyouthemysteriesofmindreading—anability,whichthereaderrealizesoncompletionofthisbook,lieswithinoneself. Thecentralfocusofthisbookrevolvesaroundhowwecognizetheworldaroundus,howwethin-slice(i.e.,makingawholepicturefromjustagist),howrapidcognitionscanbealotbetterandproductivethanlongbutfutiledetailedanalysisofsituations,andtherebyhowtheserapidcognitionssometimesleadusastray!ThemajorcontributionofthisbookcomesaroundwhenGladwell(2005)introducesustoourmassiveinternalcomputer—theonethatdecidesforuswhenweareunableto(consciously)andfurtheron,howemotionsplayahuge,titanicroleinourcognitions!Actually,thatwouldbeoneofthemostintriguingpartsofthisbook. BLINKisabouthumanrapidcognition,athinkingthatisalotfasterthanwecanrealizeit,andathinkingthatoperatesquitemysteriouslyincomparisontoourcommonlyusedcareful,planned,andthoughtfuldecisionmaking.Andthat'sthemajorhypothesisinthisbook.Alongwiththisvariable,throughhisextensiveresearchandanalysis,Gladwell(2005)introducesseveralothervariablesthatareinterdependentwithrapidcognition—suchasemotions,attitude,judgments,snapdecisions,roleoftime,frugalityofinformation,androleofpastexperiencesinperception. Theauthorusesaveryinvolvingmethodologytoputforthhisideas;heutilizesaperfectmélangeofquestions(suchaswhydowefallfortall,darkmen?),experimentsverywellresearchedandanalyzed,andlotsofcasestudies.Thisgiganticcompilation,whichseemsexhaustiveatonepoint,didafteralldojusticetothenatureofthetopic.Idoubttherecouldhavebeenamoreinvolvingwayofputtingacrosssomethingthatwecanhardlydecipherstraightaway—thepowerofthinkingwithoutthinking! Forasneak-peak,amongtheseveralanswersGladwell(2005)resolvesthroughthisbookisoneofthereasonswhyrelationshipsfail,orratherwhatisitthatindicatesthedownfallofaperfect-lookingrelationship.Andasheunveilstheshockers,yourealizethatsomanytimes,wedon'trealizethatweunknowinglygiveoutnon-verbalcues—andthatiswhowereallyare(notwhoweclaimtobeweare).Thisiswherehepresentstothereadertheartofthin-slicing:makingajudgmentofthewholescenariofromjustagist. Thereon,Gladwell(2005)continuestoprovideinnumerablesuchexamplesofthin-slicingincontextssuchasspeed-dating,tennis,gambling,militarywargames,malpracticesuits,popularmusic,etc.Theargumentishowtheunconsciousthoughtoverpowersalogically-thoughtdecisionandprovesbeneficial. Gladwell(2005)explainsthatwhenwearethin-slicingormakingoursnapjudgment,we'vegotalockeddoori.e.,ourunconsciousthatmakesthosedecisionsforus,evenbeforeourconsciousstartsworkingonthatinformation.Hence,thetitle“thepowerofthinkingwithoutthinking.”Ourunconsciousattitudes(andprejudices)playadeeproleinourjudgmentsandsnapdecisions. Ittakesyouinforarunwhenyoureadthatsnapdecisionsorsplitseconddecisionscantakeyouastray.Gladwell(2005)deeplyelaborateswhyandwherecanourmindreadingabilitiesfail.Hethenspinsyourattentiontotheabilityofproblemsolving—whichinvolvesagreatdealofdecisionmaking.Someproblemsolvingrequiresaflashofinsightwhilesomelogicbased-onesrequireexplanations.However,tryingtoreflectorexplaininsightfulproblemsolvingcanactuallyunderminetheabilitytoinsight! Dijksterhuis(2004)inhisrecentresearchsupportedthispossibilitybyreportingevidencethatunconsciousthinkersmaymakebetterdecisionsthanconsciousthinkers.Onthesamelines,in2008Gigerenzerdiscussedevidenceofpeopleoftenusingreasoning“shortcuts”intheirdecision-making(Gigerenzer,2008).Hecalledthem“heuristics”andspokeofintuition.[However,(Gladwell,2005)didneverintendtocallhisanalysisan“intuition.”Hereferstounconsciousthoughtasthefirst2s—athinkingthatmovesalittlefasterandlittlemoremysteriously].Onathirdparadigm,Payneetal.(2008)arguedthatunderstandingthechoiceenvironmentandinteractionsoughttobeconsideredwhileconsideringhowtoapproachcomplexchoiceproblems. Recently,theseresearchpointswerecriticizedaspossiblyoverratingthecontributionofstrictlyunconsciousprocessestobehavioralcontrol(NewellandShanks,2014).WhileGigerenzerandDijksterhuisevincereasoningtobeeitherconsciousorunconscious,Gladwell(2005)demonstratesthemasaprocesswhereintheunconsciousthoughtdominatesforthefirst2s. Gladwell(2005)substantiatesthat“trulysuccessfulthinkingreliesonabalancebetweendeliberateandinstinctivethinking,”whichfitswiththerecentcurrentconclusionsofNordgenetal.(2011). BLINKishighlysuitableforreaderswhocravetounderstandthecomplexitiesofhumanmindanddecisions.PatienceisanecessityandpassionaprerequisitetoabsorbthehiddentruthsaboutyourownmindwhileyoureadBLINK! ConflictofInterestStatement Theauthordeclaresthattheresearchwasconductedintheabsenceofanycommercialorfinancialrelationshipsthatcouldbeconstruedasapotentialconflictofinterest. References Dijksterhuis,A.(2004).Thinkdifferent:themeritsofunconsciousthoughtinpreferencedevelopmentanddecisionmaking.J.Pers.Soc.Psychol.87,586–598.doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.5.586 PubMedAbstract|CrossRefFullText|GoogleScholar Gigerenzer,G.(2008).ShortCutstoBetterDecisionMaking.London:Penguin. Gladwell,M.(2005).Blink:ThePowerofThinkingWithoutThinking.NewYork,NY:Little,BrownandCo. Newell,B.R.,andShanks,D.R.(2014).Unconsciousinfluencesondecisionmaking:acriticalreview.Behav.BrainSci.37,1–19.doi:10.1017/S0140525X12003214 PubMedAbstract|CrossRefFullText|GoogleScholar Nordgen,L.F.,Bos,M.W.,andDijksterhuis,A.(2011).Thebestofbothworlds:Integratingconsciousandunconsciousthoughtbestsolvescomplexproblems.J.Exp.Soc.Psychol.47,509–511.doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.12.007 CrossRefFullText|GoogleScholar Payne,J.W.,Samper,A.,Bettman,J.R.,andLuce,M.F.(2008).Boundaryconditionsonunconsciousthoughtincomplexdecisionmaking.Ass.Psychol.Sci.19,1118–1123.doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02212.x PubMedAbstract|CrossRefFullText|GoogleScholar Keywords:powerofthinking,thinking,thinkingwithoutthinking,judgmentanddecisionmaking,thinkingandreasoning Citation:AdhiyaK(2015)BookReview:“Blink:thepowerofthinkingwithoutthinking.”Front.Psychol.6:1225.doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01225 Received:06March2015;Accepted:03August2015;Published:19August2015. Editedandreviewedby:BernhardHommel,LeidenUniversity,Netherlands Copyright©2015Adhiya.Thisisanopen-accessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense(CCBY).Theuse,distributionorreproductioninotherforumsispermitted,providedtheoriginalauthor(s)orlicensorarecreditedandthattheoriginalpublicationinthisjournaliscited,inaccordancewithacceptedacademicpractice.Nouse,distributionorreproductionispermittedwhichdoesnotcomplywiththeseterms. *Correspondence:KhushaliAdhiya,[email protected] COMMENTARY ORIGINALARTICLE Peoplealsolookedat SuggestaResearchTopic>