blink
About a year ago i started reading Blink: the Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell, and instantly loved it. I read about 75 pages into it, started talking about it to anyone that would listen, sharing my fascination like a kid who just learned to blow bubbles.
And then, for whatever reason, i set it down on my bedside table, and left it there. I kept meaning to go back, particularly because i was looking forward to the part that discussed what happens when our intuition is wrong. Or maybe i just thought i wanted to read that part. Instead, i went another nine months without touching it. In that time, my intuition was often wrong.
But along came a moment where i blinked, and suddenly knew... somehow just knew, without thinking. So i went back to reading the book.
The first example Blink gives to explain the phenomenon concerns a statue that the Getty was considering purchasing. It was a very rare kouros, a Greek statue of a nude male youth, dating to approximately 600 BC. Or so it seemed. They ran tests on the statue, researched its credentials, took core samples, found where the granite originated from, and everything seemed to check out. But when presented to experts, in that first split second when they saw the statue, each of them knew something was wrong with it. Some couldn't say exactly what, but just knew it wasn't authentic. Others focused on odd details like the fingernails, or the fresh look of the granite, or just had a bad feeling about it. In the end, of course, the experts were right.
We do it all the time, and don't even think about it. And that seems to be the key, not thinking about it. Letting your subconscious take over so the silly logic and intellect don't get in the way.
My favorite example in the book was a study conducted with students evalutating college professors. They videotaped some professors giving a portion of a lecture. At the end of a semester they had the professors' students evaluate their teaching style in several areas. Then they showed the video of the professors to some prospective students and asked them to evaluate the professors' style. The evaluations from prospective students that watched a video clip, and those that sat through an entire semester of classes with the professor matched up very closely. The most amazing part? They could show the prospective students clips as short as 5 - 10 seconds, and the evalutations still matched up. In that 5 seconds the students could infer how fun/boring/hard/easy/dry/engaging/etc the professor's lectures would be. That tiny snippet is all we really need.
And then i get to the part where it all goes wrong, which isn't exactly what i expected. There seem to be two main causes: heightened emotions and lack of experience. The first case is illustrated using the Amadaou Diallo shooting, while the second explores several scenarios where that split second decision was incorrect because the person wasn't an expert, didn't have proper training. In the end, that blink instance is referred to as rapid cognition, definitely the best way to describe it. I was reminded of working as a cameraman on movies in college. After awhile I got a feel for the actors and the space and their movements. Suddenly pulling focus, maintaining fluid pans, keeping the subject in the frame, all came with ease.
That's all well and good, but it's not what really interested me about this book. The thing that really captures my attention is that moment when first meeting someone, when you somehow know that it's just right. That blink, that click, that feeling like you've known each other forever, or want to forevermore. It's rare. It's beautiful. It's life at its finest. Of course that takes experience as well. You have to know yourself, know what sort of person you're looking for, and what you want. Not knowing, lack of experience, and the heat of the moment lead towards the same old mistaken intuition... it seemed so right at first, but easily fell apart.
So i'll pay attention, and i'll trust my rapid cognition, and i won't overthink it or let logic and reasoning get in the way, and life will be better for it.
,
And then, for whatever reason, i set it down on my bedside table, and left it there. I kept meaning to go back, particularly because i was looking forward to the part that discussed what happens when our intuition is wrong. Or maybe i just thought i wanted to read that part. Instead, i went another nine months without touching it. In that time, my intuition was often wrong.But along came a moment where i blinked, and suddenly knew... somehow just knew, without thinking. So i went back to reading the book.
The first example Blink gives to explain the phenomenon concerns a statue that the Getty was considering purchasing. It was a very rare kouros, a Greek statue of a nude male youth, dating to approximately 600 BC. Or so it seemed. They ran tests on the statue, researched its credentials, took core samples, found where the granite originated from, and everything seemed to check out. But when presented to experts, in that first split second when they saw the statue, each of them knew something was wrong with it. Some couldn't say exactly what, but just knew it wasn't authentic. Others focused on odd details like the fingernails, or the fresh look of the granite, or just had a bad feeling about it. In the end, of course, the experts were right.
We do it all the time, and don't even think about it. And that seems to be the key, not thinking about it. Letting your subconscious take over so the silly logic and intellect don't get in the way.
My favorite example in the book was a study conducted with students evalutating college professors. They videotaped some professors giving a portion of a lecture. At the end of a semester they had the professors' students evaluate their teaching style in several areas. Then they showed the video of the professors to some prospective students and asked them to evaluate the professors' style. The evaluations from prospective students that watched a video clip, and those that sat through an entire semester of classes with the professor matched up very closely. The most amazing part? They could show the prospective students clips as short as 5 - 10 seconds, and the evalutations still matched up. In that 5 seconds the students could infer how fun/boring/hard/easy/dry/engaging/etc the professor's lectures would be. That tiny snippet is all we really need.
And then i get to the part where it all goes wrong, which isn't exactly what i expected. There seem to be two main causes: heightened emotions and lack of experience. The first case is illustrated using the Amadaou Diallo shooting, while the second explores several scenarios where that split second decision was incorrect because the person wasn't an expert, didn't have proper training. In the end, that blink instance is referred to as rapid cognition, definitely the best way to describe it. I was reminded of working as a cameraman on movies in college. After awhile I got a feel for the actors and the space and their movements. Suddenly pulling focus, maintaining fluid pans, keeping the subject in the frame, all came with ease.
That's all well and good, but it's not what really interested me about this book. The thing that really captures my attention is that moment when first meeting someone, when you somehow know that it's just right. That blink, that click, that feeling like you've known each other forever, or want to forevermore. It's rare. It's beautiful. It's life at its finest. Of course that takes experience as well. You have to know yourself, know what sort of person you're looking for, and what you want. Not knowing, lack of experience, and the heat of the moment lead towards the same old mistaken intuition... it seemed so right at first, but easily fell apart.
So i'll pay attention, and i'll trust my rapid cognition, and i won't overthink it or let logic and reasoning get in the way, and life will be better for it.
,
posted by joe @ 12:23 AM
2 comments
Oh My Gosh,
You bought the book a year ago! Apparently the book still flies of the shelves. I reserved a copy after reading your rave in a previous blog. I also read the first five pages on Amazon.com
I can't wait,
susie_cutie
Thanks for giving us this review. I've been wanting to read Blink for a while now, but I'm determined not to add any more books to my queue until I finish some of the ones that I've already purchased.
I too love that feeling when you meet someone and instantly feel like you've known each other for years, but you're right, it can be so tricky. I'm starting to feel like even experience isn't enough to know whether the click is real or...horomones. ;) I like to think that I have very good intuition when it comes to people, but damned if I don't find myself drawn to the occasional wrong one regardless. Hopefully my experience is taking me closer though. ;)