A Review of the New York Times Paperback Bestseller Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, former journalist and author of two other New York Times bestsellers Outliers, and The Tipping Point, concerns the role intuition plays in the cognitive process, and how significant institutive decisions ("gut reactions") can be. It's an interesting subject because, as the author himself notes, intuitive decisions are so often dismissed in favor of decisions based on reason, research, and analysis. We tend to favor that which can be articulated rather than visceral reactions, but the author argues (and quite convincingly) the intuitive reaction is often the result of our unconscious mind, quite correctly, recognizing a pattern, an insight, or a solution to a problem.

Expressing this contention in an informal, rather than pedantic tone, Gladwell draws on disparate examples from fields as diverse as medicine, military exercises, marriage counseling, and educational testing, which adds to the book's accessibility. It is definitely an entertaining read; Gladwell is a superb storyteller, and his stories are memorable. And Blink is also a quick read: clocking in at about 270 pages, but relying heavily on anecdote, you are halfway through before you know it.

Still you'll wonder where all this is headed. There are a number of seemingly intuitive intuition-related insights here, each preceded by an anecdotal presentation of the research Gladwell uses to prove his contention. However, the chapters, which do reference earlier insights, do not build upon each other particularly well, nor are they substantially more revealing than the last.

The snapshot approach employed is understandable when applied to a field of inquiry with as many uses as decision-making. Blink does provide a solid roadmap of the current state of the field. But the approach also suggests that the author really doesn't have much insight into the field himself, and is content to enthusiastically meander through its research and applications. This is further evidenced by the conclusion, wherein the central premise-that one should pay more attention to one's instincts, first expressed in the first few page, plays second-fiddle to the Final Anecdotes.

Of course, one would not necessarily expect great insight into cognition studies from a journalist who admittedly is only trying to suggest we take our gut more seriously. But one might expect, rather than just an overwhelming accretion of stories about current and past research, some meditation on future research and applications. The lack of this disappoints, as it undermines his contention of how important this field is, and weakens the narrative.

This might make a good primer for an enthusiastic high schooler interested in pursuing psychology, but by and large yields no great insight other than that found in the first few pages. As Gladwell himself states, surplus information often overwhelms our first (and correct) response. In this case, Blink's abundance of stories, while engaging, obscures the weakness of this book: the author is simply too awed by the field to present any insightful analysis.