Snap Judgment

Even After Much Reflection, 'Blink' Is a Disappointment

TWO THIRDS of the way through Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, the follow-up to his massively successful and influential bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell writes:

As Wilson puts it, what happens is that we come up with a plausible-sounding reason for why we might like or dislike something, and then we adjust our true preference to be in line with that plausible-sounding reason.

Gladwell is writing about strawberry jam and why people prefer some brands over others, but the passage above could easily be applied to all of Blink. In trying to persuade the reader that instantaneous judgments are not only reliable and trustworthy but also more effective than those made after considerable analysis, he undermines his argument time and time again with examples of negative consequences of actions based on first impressions. Gladwell seems to wish to have it both ways: to advocate unequivocally for following one's gut (see, for example, the book's subtitle) while also warning of that tactic's dangers. For all of its research, the book feels cobbled together and too skittish, as if Gladwell, knowing he shouldn't be as glib about unthinking reactions as the marketplace would like him to be, can't help acknowledging his reporting pedigree by slipping in a cautionary tale to balance out every instance of a successful blink.

Rating: **1/2 (of 5)