Malcolm Gladwell is an entertaining writer. His book The Tipping Point almost made my Top Ten list last year, not only for the thoroughly enjoyable read (which it was), but also for the intriguing analysis into human behavior and consumerism that Gladwell offers.
Blink carries on The Tipping Point‘s tradition of great illustrations and fascinating data. This is a book about “the power of thinking without thinking.” In summary, Gladwell shows us how our snap judgments are often more accurate than our deliberate decisions that we take months to make. Gladwell peppers the book with examples that prove his thesis, providing church leaders with plenty of stories that beg to be used as sermon illustrations.
Gladwell also writes about the “dark side of blink,” when our snap judgments are wrong. He writes of police mistakes, voter shallowness, and the fact that Coke still outsells Pepsi, even when Pepsi wins hands-down in a taste contest.
Thinking Christians would do well to read Blink. It’s entertaining, educating, and provocative, and it challenges some of our presuppositions about how the mind works.
written by Trevin Wax © 2007 Kingdom People blog
