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: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Review
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Power of Thinking Without Thinking Review page:
The basic idea of the book
is to explore the instinctive decision-making process, and to ask why some people
are better at making snap judgments than others are. In doing so he wander widely,
from basic game theory to neuroscience and some cognitive science. His case studies
include such diverse topics as art fraud, music talent scouting, and police decision
making under pressure.
Gladwell begins by explaining his concept of thin
slices, which is the idea that the information we process and the decisions that
we make can be broken down into sequential slices, and that often the most important
information and the best decisions come from that first slice. He cites a number
of examples of people who have learned how to isolate and then minimize the smallest
slice upon which they can base a decision and expect it to be correct with a sufficiently
high degree of certainty. These people are experts in their fields, and are able
to make extremely accurate decisions with far less information than we might expect.
Gladwell then goes on to show why he believes it is that most people distrust
their first opinions, that people tend to look at a slice which is too thick.
By doing so he believes that people often are misled or confused by extraneous
information. He believes that when people look at a slice of information which
is too thick with extra details, then they find themselves basing their decisions
on facts and opinion which have no bearing on the facts of the situation. He tries,
and succeeds, in showing just how easy it is to influence the subconscious with
extra information. He finishes the book with several more lengthy examples of
both good and bad snap decisions, and a brief conclusion.
This is a very
interesting book, well written, and it is a very quick read. Although almost completely
devoid of explicit theory, the examples and stories are all interesting, and generally
quite relevant to the topic. I found the implicit theory of knowledge that Gladwell
uses to be particularly interesting. He stresses heavily the importance of personal
knowledge, knowledge that cannot be passed like an algebraic formula, but which
must instead be gained through much effort and study. What he is trying to do
in this book is not to teach you how to judge an unknown musician, or how to tell
a fake kouros from a real one, but rather to make you realize that with practice
you can gain the ability to make accurate and rapid judgments on very little information
if you take the time to gain that personal knowledge. As someone who believes
in the crucial role of personal knowledge in accurate decision making, I find
his goal to be admirable.
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