|
Wednesday, July 26
Introduction: The Statue That Didn't Look Right
I started reading Malcolm Gladwell's blink at the airport on Monday, and it's due back at the Library next Wednesday. Since I'll be speed reading it, I am going to write very short summaries of each section to help me internalize the material (and hopefully pique your interest along the way...)
The introduction starts off with a story about the Getty Museum's 10 million dollar purchase of a statue that ended up being a fake - even after the museum did careful analysis, several experts knew instantly upon seeing it that "something was up."
The next example uses 4 decks of cards (2 each red and blue) that either wins you or costs you some money. It takes people 50 cards to develop a hunch about which color is better, and 80 cards to be sure. But by measuring the activity of sweat glands on the hands, we can see that the body actually starts reacting after only 10 cards.
Next, the 3 objectives of the book are laid out:
- Decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously.
- When our powers of rapid cognition go away, it is for very specific and consitent reasons that can be identified & understood.
- Snap judgements and first impressions can be educated and controlled - the power of knowing, in that first two seconds, is an ability we can all cultivate for ourselves.
posted by Brad at 7/26/2006 12:23:00 AM | permalink |
0 comments 
|
Archives