Blink

What Hacker News says

1. SimulacraOct 2023
   Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. It taught me to pay attention to nonverbal language in decision making
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2. SMAAARTSep 2023
   I am old(er) but I am not done yet.

   I have had a somewhat successful career as both an executive and entrepreneur, always making pragmatic decisions based on data, logic, and reasoning. Growing up poor had something to do with that.

   As an executive in tech startups I have often witnessed entrepreneurs making what seemed like emotional decisions, good or bad, just because they felt that way, without any regards to data, or factual evidences. And I am taking about hiring, firing, layoffs, M&A, financing, re-financing, breaking leases, moving locations, closing down branches...

   I do read a lot of business and personal development books, and recently I am reading, again, "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek.

   Generally speaking I like the book, but there's an entire chapter where Simon praises making decision by listening to one's gut feelings; especially within the context of being an entrepreneur.

   I am aware of Malcolm Gladwell's book "Blink". I love that book, and the way I interpreted it is that people who have both deep expertise and vast experience in a field, can often, but not always, sense end results with incomplete data. I get that, I have witnessed and experienced that. But to me it's not gut feelings, it's expertise.

   I am a good executive but a terrible entrepreneur. I am trying to change that.

   Should I go more with my gut feelings AND at the same time take more actions/risks? Without pondering too much about data, and analysis and trying to take calculating risks?

   HN: do you have any insightful comments or resources for me?

   Thanks in advance.

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3. PartiallyTypedJan 2023
   > Bluntly, if a male says I can't be inspired by females isn't that because they're sexist?

   Not necessarily. It could be, but I wouldn't attribute it to malice as much as I'd attribute it to difficulty in relating to the person.

   > Do they have to consider separation of humans by characteristics to be important in order to get you that position where they feel alone with other humans?

   Your error in this is that you assume the behaviour is conscious and deliberate. Our brains do many calculations before we are even aware of them. I recommend Gladwell's book "Blink" on the topic [1].

   Humans are by all means social beings, and we use heuristics and mental shortcuts to simplify our world, leading to fast and unconscious decisions often to our own detriment. We construct in and out groups before we are aware them, and said groups affect our decisions. This is why people growing in mixed communities are far less likely to be or exhibit racist behaviour.

   I am expressing this only as a testament to our innate fallibility, this isn't targeted towards any specific group of people because there are all sorts of communities that are isolated and have very few interactions with others.

   I experienced awe and inspiration when I realized that I was sitting at the same benches, and studying at the same place as Heisenberg when he came up with QM. But it was only when I stopped and thought about it, when I thought about the place I was sitting and the history behind it.

   Sometimes all we have is superficial information, and our brains try to make the most of it. It's in our nature after all, we are all fallible humans, so why not help alleviate it and enable people to become their best selves?

   [1] https://www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/03160...

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4. hacknewsloginDec 2022
   A lot of the comments are bashing Malcom Gladwell. The reasons why are entirely new to me. Besides the podcasts they mention, can anyone recommend some articles? I really liked Blink, I'd love to read a credible analysis on it. edit: spelling
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5. no_wizardDec 2022
   Same! I’d be hesitant to say Blink didn’t shape some ways I started to think about things like intuition and recall.

   I of course read alot more Than Gladwell afterwards but I’d never gone as deep if it wasn’t for this book

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6. underseacablesDec 2020
   Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. I have not received a ticket for a driving infraction since.
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