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College Drive

Monday-Thursday

8:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M.

Friday

8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.

Saturday

8:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.

Closed Sunday

Roberts Drive

Monday-Thursday

9:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.

Friday

8:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.

Closed Saturday and Sunday

August review by Warren Howard

blink by Malcolm Gladwell

If you could have any super power what would it be? The cloak of invisibility? Flying? X-ray vision? Super strength? How about the ability to instantly make correct decisions based on situational patterns and past experiences?  Now what if I told you that this power could be yours, not with the help of a pill and you don’t have to send me three monthly installments of $19.99.  According to Malcolm Gladwell, in his book blink, this power is free, already inside of us and can be activated simply by training yourself to listen to what you already know. Tell me more you say- (see, just by reading the book, I already knew you were going to say that.)

Gladwell intersperses, throughout the book, stories which describe average people accurately predicting behaviors, outcomes and authenticity without the use of mountains of data and doing so almost instantaneously. The stories range from students rating a teacher as to his or her effectiveness based on ten seconds of videotapes which yield the exact same results as students who had sat through the entire semester to a psychologist who could predict, by watching fifteen minutes of a couples conversation, whether these couples will live happily ever after or are doomed for the big “D” and I don’t mean Dallas. Most of these stories are average people making seemingly impossible predictions. You may be saying, How do they do this?

“The power of knowing, in that first two seconds, is not a gift magically given to a fortunate few," Gladwell writes. "It is an ability we can all build for ourselves." What we need to do then is learn to what he calls -"thin slice"-or take a small piece or slice of a situation, person or problem and let our intuition guide us to make a snap decision that could turn out to be the right decision-or not. The -or not -scenario is part of the problem with the main premise of the book. Sometimes we thin slice and we get it wrong-horribly wrong. Such was the case when Amadou Diallo was shot, and killed, by Bronx police as he reached for his billfold. What makes "thin slicing" go wrong? Could it be all the other factors that attribute to our thinking process -like stress, prejudice, past wrong information, the weather and a million other things, which affect us in those first two seconds of any situation? Or is it that we don't let go entirely and trust the force?

I believe it to be a simple case of Impulsivity vs. Reflectivity. I know that research is good and helps guide us to make the right decision. There are certain things, important life and death things that cannot be left up to intuition.  I grew up with hearing look before you leap, think before you speak, and don't judge a book by it's cover but I also know that some of my most rewarding experiences have been spur of the moment decisions based on a gut feeling. I do recommend this book because it is fascinating and provides much food for thought. Do I suggest you base all of life's decisions on your intuition? No and besides as that great philosopher Garth Brooks sang " Yes my life is better left to chance, I could have missed the pain but I'd have missed the dance."  

Newsletter Home

What's New

Reading Groups

Suggested Reading

Faculty/Staff Spotlight

Ashland Community and Technical College Library

Boyd County Public Library

Newsletter Archives

Library Hours

College Drive

Monday-Thursday

8:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M.

Friday

8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.

Saturday

8:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.

Closed Sunday

Roberts Drive

Monday-Thursday

9:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.

Friday

8:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.

Closed Saturday and Sunday

August review by Warren Howard

blink by Malcolm Gladwell

If you could have any super power what would it be? The cloak of invisibility? Flying? X-ray vision? Super strength? How about the ability to instantly make correct decisions based on situational patterns and past experiences?  Now what if I told you that this power could be yours, not with the help of a pill and you don’t have to send me three monthly installments of $19.99.  According to Malcolm Gladwell, in his book blink, this power is free, already inside of us and can be activated simply by training yourself to listen to what you already know. Tell me more you say- (see, just by reading the book, I already knew you were going to say that.)

Gladwell intersperses, throughout the book, stories which describe average people accurately predicting behaviors, outcomes and authenticity without the use of mountains of data and doing so almost instantaneously. The stories range from students rating a teacher as to his or her effectiveness based on ten seconds of videotapes which yield the exact same results as students who had sat through the entire semester to a psychologist who could predict, by watching fifteen minutes of a couples conversation, whether these couples will live happily ever after or are doomed for the big “D” and I don’t mean Dallas. Most of these stories are average people making seemingly impossible predictions. You may be saying, How do they do this?

“The power of knowing, in that first two seconds, is not a gift magically given to a fortunate few," Gladwell writes. "It is an ability we can all build for ourselves." What we need to do then is learn to what he calls -"thin slice"-or take a small piece or slice of a situation, person or problem and let our intuition guide us to make a snap decision that could turn out to be the right decision-or not. The -or not -scenario is part of the problem with the main premise of the book. Sometimes we thin slice and we get it wrong-horribly wrong. Such was the case when Amadou Diallo was shot, and killed, by Bronx police as he reached for his billfold. What makes "thin slicing" go wrong? Could it be all the other factors that attribute to our thinking process -like stress, prejudice, past wrong information, the weather and a million other things, which affect us in those first two seconds of any situation? Or is it that we don't let go entirely and trust the force?

I believe it to be a simple case of Impulsivity vs. Reflectivity. I know that research is good and helps guide us to make the right decision. There are certain things, important life and death things that cannot be left up to intuition.  I grew up with hearing look before you leap, think before you speak, and don't judge a book by it's cover but I also know that some of my most rewarding experiences have been spur of the moment decisions based on a gut feeling. I do recommend this book because it is fascinating and provides much food for thought. Do I suggest you base all of life's decisions on your intuition? No and besides as that great philosopher Garth Brooks sang " Yes my life is better left to chance, I could have missed the pain but I'd have missed the dance."