Blink
“ The Power of Thinking Without Thinking ”
by Malcolm Gladwell
- Goodreads
- Rating: 3 / 5
We most often make decisions in the blink of an eye and unconsciously, and then post-rationalize them with conscious effort. It’s useful for day to day survival, and sometimes when having year-long expertise on things (but not always). For more strategic decisions, it’s better to pre-define the decision framework.
Reading notes
Sometimes less info is better than a lot to make a decision. E. G. Heart attacks decision flow, which only looks at a few criteria, works better than decision with lots of data. Because some are irrelevant
Some choices are made better with snap judgement:
- Which jam to choose, because no cognitive load required rather than overanalyzing benign choices
- Expertise, e. G. Determining authenticity of a greek statue; when snap judgement has been educated for years.
Some choices are made poorly with snap judgement
- Police shooting black kids
- First impressions
Snap judgements are taking over when:
- Overly aroused (heart rate > 140, such as in chases, hearty discussions, etc.)
- No time - need to act in point seconds.
Trick to avoid detrimental snaps:
- Avoid situations in which snaps occurs (overly aroused, no time) - this is done by keeping distances, giving yourself time.
- Learn to detect when acting on snap judgement
- Expertise