Blink: The power of thinking without thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

This book about tapping the power of the instinct and the subconscious not that of Freud was read in 3 seatings. I bought this in Soekarno Hatta International Airport and started reading it since the started reading it there while waiting for the next flight to Pekanbaru last 8 February. Then, I continued reading it while traveling to Dumai and while in the port of Dumai and Bandar Bakau last 9 February and finished it today 17 February.

The first seating allowed me to go through the introduction which talks about the technique of thin slicing in the case of the kouros - a Greek statue believed to be something that belongs to the ancient but was in fact fake. 

The next seating is dedicated to reading the stories that support the idea of thin slicing and the dangers of thin slicing in the case of political decisions, hospital determination of chest pain sickness, military strategy, police operations, and the world of music's entertainment of women orchestra instrument musicians.

The third seating delves on the last chapter on the Seven Seconds in the Bronx and the afterword which contains the icing and the meat of the ideas of Malcolm. In here, he made a recap of the narratives mentioned throughout the book and juxtaposed the two situations of blinking and thinking, that is the power of determining the proper approach in every situation whether to trust the instinct or to trust the thinking process.

Reading this made me realize how important it is to look at the face and much more so at the eyes of the persons we are communicating with. This is a necessary skill for teachers especially when dealing with classroom management and creating a classroom that is, according to Marilyn Page in her book You cannot teach listening, "safe, secure, organized, calm, productive, and positive."

The powerful stories also challenge me to test the effectivity of a terse language when communicating instructions in class and talking to people in an institutional set-up. Being simple in language allows the speaker to convey the message in a crystallized form and also enables the listener to capture the message in its pure form devoid of unnecessary thoughts associated with it. A form of thinking like this especially in classroom decisions will save time, energy and may contribute to a more productive encounter with people.

In the end, he admonished the readers much like in his book, The Tipping Point, with the powerful words, "Once we know about how the mind works - and about the strengths and weaknesses of human judgment - it is our responsibility to act."

Since he mentioned about responsibility, I remembered the concept of  Frankl on responsibility. While Malcolm admonishes a person to act responsibly after knowing how to create a practical blend of using the instinct and thinking, Frankl admonishes a person to be responsible for his life in its entirety and be responsible in finding the meaning of his life.