Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

by Malcolm Gladwell

A treatise on how split-second first impressions, or snap decisions based on unconscious judgments, are often actually more accurate than decisions based on a superabundance of data. Using entertaining anecdotes from the world of ER triage, psychological experiments, pop music, business, and modern headlines, Gladwell crafts a truly convincing argument.

Every page has something interesting to say about human behavior and how easily people fall into self-deception (the false first impression, which he calls the “Warren Harding error,” or how looks can sway our decisions; as well as convincing ourselves that we’ve thought something out when actually we can’t reasonably explain how we came to a correct decision because it was unconscious). This is one of those rare things, a truly fascinating book on social psychology.