Book Summary (Blink)

Rita Spiff, a thriving event planner from New York, took a well-deserved Caribbean vacation. After arriving at the popular resort, she befriended a charming American man who had lived on the island for several years. He invited her to dinner, and she happily accepted. They walked to the restaurant on a delightful, breezy evening, chatting and enjoying the ambiance. Yet as they arrived, Rita felt an inexplicable reluctance to dine there. The source of her unease remained elusive. The open-air restaurant bustled with guests enjoying their meals and lively conversation. Having dined there previously without issue, Rita's discomfort puzzled her. Her dinner companion noticed her apprehension and encouraged her to relax and savor the evening. However, Rita's intuition proved eerily accurate as chaos erupted, sending frightened patrons scrambling for safety. Rita and her companion hastily sought refuge in a quieter, more secure location. Reflecting on the night, Rita wondered how she had sensed the impending disturbance. Her experience echoed art experts who instinctively discern a masterpiece's authenticity with just a glance. Rita's intuitive inkling, like their keen eyes, showcased the power and mystery of human intuition. Researchers and psychologists have conducted numerous studies to explore the fascinating workings of intuition. These investigations have revealed that even without academic understanding, people can tap into their innate cognitive abilities and benefit from them in various life situations. Stay tuned to discover how we can unlock the potential of this often-overlooked aspect of our mental landscape by staying aware and open to our intuition's subtle cues. Embracing our intuitive gifts not only enriches our experiences but can also guide us through challenging or uncertain circumstances with confidence and insight.

Psychologist John Gottman, PhD, experimented on a couple named Bill and Sue. He attached them to machines to measure their heart rates and sweat while he recorded their conversation. It was a lighthearted exchange, typical of the sort couples often have. However, there was more depth and meaning beneath the playful banter about their dog being oily. The session revealed a lot about the young couple. Dr. Gottman believed that he could determine if a couple would still be together by measuring moments of conflict. He claimed his results were 90% accurate. The doctor measured their heart rates and sweat and studied their facial expressions when discussing the traditional beliefs of money, sex, children, jobs, and in-laws. He found that their constantly changing combinations determined the couple's compatibility. Dr. Gottman has studied over 3000 married couples like Bill and Sue and discovered a method of focusing on what he needed to look out for. He called it the Four Horsemen - defensiveness, stonewalling, criticism, and contempt, with the latter being the most important. Using the analogy of a job interview, Dr. Gottman showed that quick appraisals can sometimes be more insightful than lengthy drilling. He proposed that psychological research suggests one could know more about a job candidate in a short meeting than in a week. Samuel Gosling, a psychologist, did a psychology work-up on 80 college students. He measured how sociable (extroversion), trusting (agreeable), organized (conscientiousness), worried (emotional stability), and imaginative (openness to new experiences) they were. He then had their closest friends assess them and a set of strangers from their student dorm rooms. The strangers were surprisingly more accurate than their most intimate friends. Our emotions can cloud our judgment and prevent us from seeing situations clearly. We may also have preconceived notions and biases towards our loved ones, which can further impact our ability to remain impartial. In addition, our desire to protect and support our loved ones can lead us to overlook or justify their actions, even when they may not be justified objectively. Maintaining objectivity in close relationships takes conscious effort and self-awareness, but doing so can help us make more informed decisions and maintain healthier relationships.

Throughout Vic Braden's career as a tennis coach, he discovered he could predict when a player would commit a double fault. This talent is akin to a seasoned sommelier's knack for identifying a subpar wine in a blind taste test; they both use their adaptive unconsciousness. The thing about snap judgment is that it is unexplainable, and attempts to explain them often need to be more convincing. In psychology, you will often hear the term thin slicing. This idea means looking for and finding trends and patterns in specific things using only tiny pieces of information. As such, you're basing your judgment on less than the whole picture. In one experiment, a researcher pretended to be a professor and gave a list of 5-word sets in a scrambled sentence test. The sentences include "us bingo sing let play." When the students left the "professor's" office, the researcher discovered that they walked out more slowly than they had walked in. The explanation was that the list contained words that make people walk more slowly. The study showed it is possible to influence people to behave in specific ways without being brainwashed. Priming infringes on the notion of free will, and this can be challenging. Speed dating is an excellent example of snap judgment because it makes people form quick opinions about others. In speed dating, the participants spend five minutes talking to each other. At the end of all sessions, if two participants like each other, they exchange email addresses. Speed dates are common because they predispose people to make snap judgments. The tennis legend Andre Agassi claimed he "rolled" his racket over the tennis ball before hitting a forehand. He could not convincingly explain why he did it. Human behavior is difficult to ascertain because people are unaware of what affects their actions, yet they don't realize this. This delusion gives them the feeling that they are not ignorant.

Harry Daugherty and Warren Harding met at a shoeshine workshop. Harding looked presidential, and Daugherty was impressed with his charisma and handsome face. Indeed, his fascination was so intense that he suggested Harding would make a great president. But Harding never met that potential. He lacked astuteness, exhibited promiscuity, and never managed to distinguish himself in the Senate. The man ascended in government because of Daugherty and looked like a charismatic leader. He then became the president of America, albeit the worst one. This election is an excellent example because people depended on the wrong information in their haste to decide. Adaptive unconsciousness can be irrationally partisan. Taller male candidates have a higher probability of success in a job interview — the average male American CEO is about three inches above the national average for men. It could then be true that most American businesspeople are not deliberately racist, sexist, or have a bias for height. No matter how hard we try, sometimes we make decisions based on factors that are not necessarily objective. Bob Golomb is a great salesman that works for a Nissan car dealership. He excels in car sales because he can quickly assess a buyer's interest. But he does not estimate based only on the buyer's appearance, age, race, height, and gender. His trick is to remain impartial to the best of his abilities and only focus on what the client wants. Most car dealerships suffer from the "Warren Harding" problem because, according to the author, many assume that women and Black people are less intelligent than white men and try to sell them overpriced vehicles. Did you know? In a study published in 2005, Princeton University students were shown photos of candidates from the last three U.S. Congressional races. On average, the students picked the actual winner of the election almost 70% of the time.

Paul Van Riper is a tall, lean man who served in Vietnam. Soldiers remember him as an intense alluring commander willing to risk his life for the mission and the good of his soldiers. Pentagon officials recruited him to invent a program to train American troops and test new military strategies. He was to play the rogue commander. The program was called the Millennium Challenge. The Millennium Challenge gave some interesting results. The Blue Team (representing the USA) was given more significant intellectual resources like Operational Net Assessment, which analyzed the enemy's vulnerable areas. They also had a tool called Effects-Based Operations, which helped them think outside the box. The Red Team used improvisational and erratic schemes. The Blue Team assumed it would be easy to defeat The Red Team due to the resource advantage. To their surprise, The Red Team could counter every attack thrown at them, and in a single day, despite their numbers, destroyed The Blue Team. The Blue Team leaders were inept at imagining Van Riper would supersede their predictions and assaults and crush them. Spontaneous thinking is the act of generating ideas or solutions on the fly without conscious planning or effort. It often occurs when the mind is relaxed, unfocused, or engaged in an unrelated activity. Spontaneous thinking can lead to creative insights, new perspectives, and unexpected solutions. It is essential for brainstorming, problem- solving, and innovation. However, it can also be unreliable and prone to bias, so balancing it with deliberate, logical thinking is essential. One side of the human brain thinks in words (the left hemisphere), while the other feels in pictures (the right hemisphere). Anytime you have to describe something in words, it displaces your visual memory. Psychologist Jonathan W. Schooler described this as verbal overshadowing. The overabundance of facts requires you to create logical patterns for distinguishing and classifying. This is a specific mind map that demands excellent intellectual effort. With this process, it is easier to get lost in the flow of information, thus hindering decision- making ability.

When told to critique an idea, a song, or a concept, a group's assessment may greatly differ from the opinions of field experts. It could also misrepresent the taste of the larger population. Dr. John Gottman discovered certain elements that paint us a picture of people's thoughts. Those elements include extra-lingual information, such as body language and facial expressions. What people read can also indicate their line of thinking and their view. These signs can reveal a substantial amount of information about a person. Consumer polls are sometimes unreliable as they may be fabricated. How objective is public opinion? Marketers frequently ask clients to give their feedback about specific products. People express their views about music, films, and politicians. Are conclusions founded on this information accurate? Subjectivity is an intrinsic part of the human psyche. Myriads of factors color our perception; people frequently find it difficult to stay objective, no matter how hard they try. For example, any musician would think it reasonable to seek popular opinion. However, the reality proves popular belief is often faulty, and folks running such polls are hardly concerned about the implication and misinformation caused by the process. Media coverage, propaganda, and group thinking can sway public opinion. Moreover, individuals' views are often based on personal biases, experiences, and perceptions, making consensus on an issue challenging. Additionally, the sample size of a poll or survey may not represent the entire population accurately. Therefore, public opinion cannot be completely objective, as various subjective factors influence people's perceptions and responses to different issues. One of the notable challenges, a concept called sensation transference, was coined by Louis Cheskin, one of the prolific influencers of twentieth-century marketing. Cheskin was born in Ukraine in the early zoth century and relocated to the United States as a child. Cheskin believed that people usually transfer their sensations or impressions about a product's packaging to the product itself. Hence, the customer subconsciously assesses something they will likely buy in a supermarket or a department store. To simplify, Cheskin believed that many consumers could not differentiate between how a commodity looks and its essence. For them, the product and package are the same.

The human body can react to stress in different ways. Some examples are diminished sound, tunnel vision, extreme visual clarity, and the sensation of time seemingly slowing down. Scientists collected these observations from various people undergoing stressful conditions. Dave Grossman is a retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel, author, and public speaker known for his work in human aggression and combat psychology. He suggests that a heart rate between 115 and 145 corresponds to the best level of arousal when the human body is at the highest rate of productivity. Grossman discovered this by measuring the heart rate of Ron Avery, an American sport shooter. His heart rate was at this level when he was on the field. However, Grossman noticed that things begin to go south when the heart rate exceeds 145. Psychomotor skills start going amok, and the symmetrical balance becomes almost impossible. At 175, the brain begins to lose its coordinative grasp of the body. This point is where cognitive processing fails. The forebrain stops working, giving way to the midbrain, which takes over entirely. Vision is uncontrollably skewed. Behavior becomes unpredictable and erratic. It frequently happens that people under gunfire or shelling experience failure of specific body functions. They may uncontrollably empty their bowels or bladder. When our bodies reach a heart rate of 175 and above, they disregard certain functions and focus on more essential ones. Blood flows from the outer muscle layers, and they become as hard as possible — to subdue potential bleeding. Our bodies have unique protective mechanisms to save us from danger. Every moment — every blink — is composed of a series of discrete moving parts, and every one of those parts offers an opportunity for intervention, reform, and correction. Myriads of discrete movements compose each minute. All of them are influenced by just as many different factors which change the direction of their functioning.

Abbie Conant, a professional musician who played the trombone in Italy for the Royal Opera of Turin, auditioned for the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. They had mistaken her for a man in their response to her application. This was in the 1980s when women were considered unable to handle the rigors of classical music. Hence, women were already judged as incompetent before they struck a note. By luck, Conant beat the odds. The auditions were played behind a screen because the orchestra's cultural center was under construction. Screened auditions were rare in Europe at the time. Conant was the sixteenth performer and played Ferdinand David's Concertino for Trombone, the warhorse audition piece in Germany. Despite missing a note, the Philharmonic's music director, Sergiu Celibidache, picked her, and the remaining 17 applicants went home. Rainer Kuchl, Vienna Philharmonic concertmaster, claimed that he had a unique ability to determine the gender of a musician based solely on how they play an instrument. He thought that with astute training, the ear could pick up the nuances of the female style. But this was all a lie. Later, judges weren't allowed to communicate with each other during auditions. This way, the process became more objective. Musicians were identified by number rather than name, and organizers set up screens to visually separate the committee and the auditioner. If the auditioner made any sound or wore footwear that could give away their identity or gender, they were ushered out or given a new number. Since the advent of screened auditions, the population of women in reputable US orchestras has jumped fivefold. Interestingly, women won all of the Metropolitan Opera's tuba auditions in the mid-196os. This achievement wasn't possible before the rule's implementation because the tuba had always been considered a masculine instrument. Since the advent of screened auditions, the population of women in reputable US orchestras has jumped fivefold. Interestingly, women won all of the Metropolitan Opera's tuba auditions in the mid-196os. This achievement wasn't possible before the rule's implementation because the tuba had always been considered a masculine instrument. To remain objective during an audition, one can focus on the performance instead of personal biases or preferences. It's essential to have clear evaluation criteria, such as vocal range, pitch, and stage presence, and take notes during the audition to avoid potential biases. Additionally, having multiple judges or evaluators is crucial to ensure objectivity and reduce the impact of personal opinions. Finally, providing constructive feedback based on the performance criteria can also help maintain objectivity during auditions.

Often, we make do with information supplied only in the blink of an eye. Controlling our subconscious thoughts is limited, but this is not true. Thinking carefully prevents you from making fast decisions based on assumptions. It's easy to assume things and follow the crowd. But you need to think for yourself and make your own decisions. You miss much information if you constantly rely on snap judgments to base long-term choices. How can you be sure you see the full picture? Making decisions alone can be empowering and rewarding but challenging and daunting. It requires self-confidence, critical thinking skills, and the ability to weigh options and anticipate consequences. While seeking advice from others can be helpful, ultimately, the responsibility for the decision lies with you. Trusting yourself, staying focused on your goals, and being prepared to learn from mistakes is essential. Furthermore, you can improve your decision-making skills through practice and self-reflection. Making a habit of taking responsibility for your choices and learning from past experiences can help you make better decisions in the future. The lessons of Blink teach us to maximize the potential of the unconscious mind, gain control over the ability to make snap judgments in a fair, objective manner, and employ a more measured, careful way of thinking. Try this • When you realize you might be underperforming, calm yourself and reduce stress. • Avoid making assumptions without knowing the complete picture. Ask questions if necessary. • When you feel like you're about to start jumping to conclusions, stop, take a breath, and seek further information.