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September 16, 2006
Blink
Or don't, but know you're often making decisions before you're conscious of the factors influencing them.
I bought the book Friday night because I took it as a sign. This review by the enlightened librarian finds a problem with its "lack of forthcomingness" but I'm not sure harder evidence will do more to convince people than the stories he tells? I guess this book didn't become as popular as his previous one, The Tipping Point.
I was out with half of Drunk-with-Power and Cautiously-Concerned-with-Confidentiality. We had a wondrous meal in honor of Robin, who is still getting settled at the University of Chicago (and planning her birthday party).
It was a sign because I wavered between titling a poem I wrote last week "Wink" or "Blink". The content/effect of the poem (both in its conception, writing, and hopefully reception) is along the precise lines of Gladwell's book: "Blink is concerned with the very smallest components of our everyday lives - the content and origin of those instantaneous impressions and conclusions that spontaneously arise whenever we meet a new person or confront a complex situation or have to make a decision under conditions of stress" (2005:16).
I don't recall that I'd heard of this book before seeing it on the table in Raven.
:-)
Gladwell goes on to ask, "What would happen if we took our instincts seriously?" (17). I've been asking this of myself for awhile now. He argues a kind of unconsciousness (not Freudian), called the adaptive unconscious.
It's fallible, of course, subject to betrayal, being "thwarted" (14), "thrown off, distracted, and disabled" (15). Hence, one must practice reading and applying it. Been there and still doing that!
ps. I really need to figure out how to add audio because reading this is not complete without hearing Marvin Gaye kicking it as I type.
Posted by Steph at September 16, 2006 4:53 PM