Blink* The First Glance Of The Adaptive Unconcious

I was browsing the paperback section at Walmart last night, when an exceptionally well designed hardcover caught my eye.

Understated lowercase lettering instructed me to blink*…

… And so I did. My first impression told me this book might be worth looking at though I couldn’t tell you why. As it turns out, that’s exactly Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is about — how we use quick-glance first impressions in making decisions, and how to use those impressions more effectively by training and educating our own subconscious.

I’m a big fan of turning things over to the unconscious, using a combination of intellectual and instinctive assessments, so I picked up the book, held it in my hand, judged the paper stock on the book jacket, admired the zen-like simplicity again.

I skimmed a couple of chapters, liked something I saw, and tossed it into the basket, cringing a bit at the price and hoping it wasn’t fluff.

Once I was home, and the groceries were safely tucked away, I had time to give Blink more than a quick glance. Skimming chapters revealed multiple references to psychological and marketing studies, along with a wide range of real world examples from the realm of politics, business and relationships. More importantly, there was an entire chapter on when first impressions fail - Blink certainly didn’t look like the typical “holy grail” self help method.

The book jacket blurb reveals author Malcolm Gladwell as a current staff writer for The New Yorker and a former business and science reporter for the Washington Post — not a man likely to pen fluff. His photo is charmingly quirky, making him look somewhat like the offspring of Albert Einstein and Christopher Walken. (My apologies to you, Malcom, should you ever read this… but it actually increases your credibility in my eyes — it’s not an appearance which makes me think “fluff”.)

When I sat down to actually read, I was thrilled to find the phrase “the adaptive unconscious”. I don’t exactly know what that means, yet…. but like “meaningless depression” and “defensive pessimist” it’s likely to earn a place in my Tweakish-Vocabulary.

Most importantly, the book will help focus my own recent thoughts on the subject of harnessing the unconscious decision making process.

So I’m pleased with my purchase — my instincts served me well this go-round. I’ll let you know if I stay pleased, lose the faith, or reach enlightenment as the result of Blink* (The title doesn’t actually include the asterisk; it’s just part of the cover design. But I think it should, so I put it there.)

MindTWEAK: The task of making sense of ourselves and our behavior requires that we acknowledge there can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.
- Blink by Malcolm Gladwell