4.1.06
a sudden awareness.
read this book called 'blink: the power of thinking without thinking'. the blurb sounded really good:
'blink is a bk about how we think without thinking, about choices that appear to be made in an instant - in the blink of an eye - that actually arent as simple as they seem. why are some ppl brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? why do some ppl follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? how do our brains really work? blink reveals that the great decision makers arent those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of 'thin-slicing' - knowing the very few things that matter...'
interesting points it contains but i can say i only benefitted but little from the bk. the truth is we all can thin-slice, albeit at different levels. some ppl 'thin-slice' better than others, and we say they have better EQ (when it comes to mind reading and understanding ppl), better judgement (when it comes to making decisions) or better intuition (when it comes to going with the gut feeling). and after reading the bk i'm still not sure how to improve one's ability to thin-slice. reading facial expressions and observing subtleties help but to a certain extent we all know that. we all know to look into others' eyes to judge sincerity, we all know to read body language to get a picture of how relaxed or uneasy the person we are talking to actually is. we all KNOW. the only major thing i think i picked out from the bk would be not to err in stereotyping ppl or situations, because this is dangerous esp in rapid cognitive thinking. keeping an open mind will help one 'thin-slice' better. why so? take for example this statement from the best car dealer in USA. he says he treats everyone who walks into his showroom as a potential buyer, an equal. the farmer in overalls. the teenage boy. the black woman. you'll never know. the mistake most car dealers make is that they start to judge based on appearance and their preconceived notions. they think, 'this person doesnt look like he's really going to buy a car' and the buyer reads this somehow (not everyone's so easily fooled you know). a whole chain of reactions start, with the end result being the buyer not wanting to buy the car from them. ok, enough of that. i must say readups on things mentioned in the book have been fruitful. the OJ Simpson case. the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. the Dialio shooting in the bronx. the beating of Rodney King which sparked the LA riots. events in recent history which sound familiar but which i never had a clue about. not to mention i picked up many random facts too. like the pentagon's millennium challenge '02. the warren harding error. the pepsi blind-sip-test challenge. googled virginia woolf and found mrs dalloway. which reminded me about the hours. never really understood that movie. so i went to read up some commentaries about it. ahh. now i finally understand that the theme of the show is the questioning if it is better to live your life for your own happiness or others. which makes me realise that if you are able to make others' happiness your own, you would have no dilemma. but right now, thats another story. its time to move on to another good... better book. i mean. oh and i must really thank God that in some bizarre way, i managed to get the contact of this other girl who's going to monash in feb too! its bizarre cos i went to visit my dad at the hospital while he was recovering from a minor surgery to remove some haemorrhoids (ahh i must start learning these scientific terms), and his 2 frens were there. the topic was brought up and one of the uncles said he knew some other doctor's daughter gg there too. said he'll help us exchange contacts. so yay! am going to link up with her. apparently she knows 7 other ppl who are going too. now my parents can really be less worried.
i fluttered by;
2:51 PM
