A Cry for Help

Since it was in the paper today, I'll link the article about the book I just happen to be reading right now: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

I read author Malcolm Gladwell's previous book last year, which encompassed all manner of social phenomena, from marketing to smoking to crime prevention. His style is engaging, explaining research results as stories rather than statistics. In Blink, he really ties together the storyline via half a dozen interviewees who shed light on the snap judgments we make every day. It really is fascinating stuff, and quick reading to boot.

One lesson from the book that I really like, and I imagine will be very useful in my biting social commentary that you all love ever so much, is the Warren Harding Error. In a sentence, this is the problem that arises when we make assumptions about a certain ability based on other, completely unrelated attributes. Named for one of our Worst. Presidents. Ever., old Warren G., who was so good looking and so tall and commanding of presence, well how could he not be a great President? That's how the electorate saw him in 19whatever and the nation democratically got what it wanted, good and hard.*

More links to Gladwell here, and here (sports related), and here's an article indicative of his style about why Heinz Ketchup kicks ass.

Interesting side note, I have a library copy right now (I like library books because even all the money I'm going to rake in from my privatized Social Security account wouldn't be able to buy all the books I'd like to read). It's usually pretty hard to get a library copy of a brand spanking new book, and indeed there were 75 people ahead of me in the request queue when I looked it up. But then, right below the catalog listing was the large print edition, with no one waiting for it. Two days later the book arrived from Jamestown. How's that for fast thinking?