Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Summer Reading Update


I have finished reading Blink by Malcom Gladwell and found it to be very interesting--his style involves the use of a lot of story telling, so it is very easy to follow. And the examples really solidify the points he tries to make. The main premise of the book is (as it says on the cover of my book), "The power of thinking without thinking." In other words, humans have the ability to make amazingly accurate snap judgments (aka, "rapid recognition"), especially in reading faces and in other cases where our eye/mind becomes trained. I found the most interesting part of the book was about the number of muscle movements the human face makes and how we learn as infants to read the meaning behind these movements. I also loved the discussion near the end about how our snap judgments can be negatively influenced by extenuating circumstances.

I have to admit, that although I really liked Blink, I liked The Tipping Point a bit more... maybe because I connected with the story examples in it better (particularly the one about Paul Revere, which I loved). And maybe because I majored in marketing/advertising in college. Still, I highly recommend both books.

Next book on my list is Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts. But first I need to reread Agatha Christie's Curtain for my book club.

Scripture of the Day: Jeremiah 34:8

1 comment:

  1. Becky, I just started this--I'm still on the first chapter. I loved Tipping Point as well.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are much appreciated!