Blink: A Book Review

Remember in Clueless where Cher makes Tai her project and they are attempting to be well-rounded so they learn new words, read books, work out, and then Cher says that maybe they should do something good for humanity? That's what this blog is about. It's time for us to be well-rounded here at Weekend Fat. I haven't mentioned too many books on this blog, but I just finished one that I found incredibly interesting. I'm late to the game on this so just...deal with it.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell is known for his interesting books and articles on humanity, psychology, and how we connect and process things in life. In other words, I love him. This particular book, Blink, begins with a story about a sculpture that a museum has just purchased. They have all the papers, all the history, and dozens of professionals familiar with that very period of art give their stamp of approval on the sculpture. Yet once it was in place they had an opening ceremony inviting all of the greatest experts on art to the museum. Several of them knew at a glance that the sculpture was a fake. The museum received so many reports of these doubts that they did more investigation and found out that yes, it was a fake. When they asked those people to explain how they knew, no one could. It was a gut feeling, they just knew.

Gladwell's book Blink explores that initial response we have to things we see, people we interact with, news we hear, and more. The case studies he offers along the way include a psychologist who can watch a couple interact for 15 minutes and determine whether or not they will stay married, and a study of police who have made mistakes in shootings vs. those who have impeccable records. It all boils down to almost immeasurable feelings, perceptions, and moments. It's as if we are equipped with a survival skill that enables us to "just know" some things. It makes a lot of sense really. The key that Gladwell points out is that we have to know ourselves and what we bring into each interaction. With awareness and observation, we really do have the ability to be good reads on relationships, jobs, and more things that could affect our lives for years and years to come.

The book was interesting and enlightening and I highly recommend it!

See...now, that wasn't so bad was it?