A few thin slices of malcolm gladwell powells books. Thin slice methodology has been researched and its accuracy has been demonstrated in a variety of areas. The power of thinking without thinking by malcolm gladwell. The power of thinking without thinking see below and. Thinslicing is a term used in psychology and philosophy to describe the ability to find patterns.
That means taking a very small sample, a thin slice, and making a decision immediately based on that information. Essentially, the concept of thinslicing implies that intuition is empirical. Humans can take a small amount of data a thinslice and draw conclusions from it using a combination of experience and intuition. Gladwell says that thinslicing is not a unique gift, that it is a central part of what it means to be human. Before the theory of thinslicing was proposed, most of the research. Malcolm gladwell visited powells city of books on january 25. The cognitive theory behind this kind of strange, but natural, impulse. Humans thinslice when they meet a new person, or have to make sense of something quickly or encounter a new situation. The central focus of this book revolves around how we cognize the world around us, how we thinslice i.
The book has examples of successful thin slicing, examples showing. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be. Just as he did with his revolutionary theory of the tipping point, gladwell reveals how the power of. Blink is a book by malcolm gladwell explaining this theory of thinslicing. The term is most often used in the discussion of malcolm gladwell s 2005 non fiction book blink, which analyzes the concept of thinking without thinking. A terrible title but a brilliant book, which totally changed my whole understanding of how we test for cancer and my understanding of statistics and medical knowledge and uncertainty. Gladwell posits that thinslicing can have its uses or can be a mistake. One of the most popular books on thinslicing is blink. The cognitive theory behind this kind of strange, but natural, impulse called thin slicing is the main topic of blink. A beautiful, beautiful book which deserves to be republished by a mass house and properly marketed. In the book gladwell tells us many different stories that have to do with thin slicing. Thinslicing allows us to make smart decisions based on little information with minimal deliberation. While gottman is an expert in relationships he authored a few books, such. That view rather flies on the face of the thin slicing idea.
The term thinslicing means making very quick decisions with small amounts of information. This includes the first impressions of strangers with selfratings, being able to identify. A particular form of unconscious bias gladwell discusses is psychological priming. Thinslicing allows us to make decisions quickly that can as good as those. Gladwell explains how an experts ability to thin slice can be corrupted by their likes and dislikes, prejudices, and stereotypes even unconscious ones.
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