Blink

Blink, by: Malcolm Galdwell
The unconscious mind is something we can all relate to, because we all have one and with that we all have first impressions. Malcolm Galdwell author of Blink does an incredible job of explaining through examples and intriguing stories just how powerful our unconscious mind and split second decision-making can be. We as humans think we need so much time to make wise decisions so we know we are to be right, but are we fooled? Does this time really just distract us from what is right in front of us and take us away from the correct decision we are able to make in the blink of an eye? “The power of thinking without thinking” Galdwell says over and over. Malcolm takes psychology to a different level in this book while using prime examples and stories from the past and present to back up his ideas. One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that is never gets old or boring; There is always something that will captivate you in every section.
Intuition is a funny thing, I mean where does it come from and how do we just know? Intuition can be very powerful, Galdwell in the beginning of the book gives an example of this, he talks about Greek sculpture and judging whether on not certain statues are real, and not forges so teams of experts on statues and analysts spent months researching the statue and concluding is was legit, while a handful of art historians followed there intuition or gut feeling and just knew that it was a forge, the art historians were correct. Throughout the entire book “thin slicing” is discussed, what this means is that our unconscious takes in a lot of information and is able to find patterns in behaviors or situations in a very shorth amount of time. Galdwell towards the end of the book say that this book in not a plan for action, for people wanting to change or apply his theories into their lives. It’s written Like a guidebook. Blink is not a guidebook but more exploring the unconscious mind, taking a different approach from Freud. He explored the wonders of the unconscious mind piecing it together and giving examples of phenomena’s of the unconscious mind.
I really enjoyed this book because I really enjoy psychology, human behavior interests me, and I always want to learn more. This book did exactly that, it teaches you a lot about what we think we know, and what we really know. As I would read, I had a lot of ah haa moments, where something Galdwell would say would just click, and I could relate instantly. Its reads fast, and never gets old, there are delightful stories throughout the book showing a range of thin slicing, from speed dating, to food experts. If you are interested in psychology you will enjoy this read, it keeps you engaged from start to finish, leaving you with lots to ponder!