1. © 2012 Perusalocity. All rights reserved. Perusalocity Book Reviews and Mind Maps by Misty Guard (a/k/a Perusalocity Girl) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://perusalocity.blogspot.com/.
  2. Speed Reading Stats (h:mm:ss) 1st Read: 0:05:19, 15,685 words/minute 2nd & 3rd Read: 0:04:00, 20,848 words/minute Mind Map Stats (h:mm:ss) 1:32:12 Total Time: (h:mm:ss) 1:51:30
  3. Introduction
    1. It's about the first 2 seconds.
    2. 1. Fast and Frugal
      1. Conscious Strategy
        1. Think about what you know = come up with a
        2. Logical and definitive
        3. Slow; needs a lot of information
      2. Sub-conscious Strategy
        1. Kicks in very fast
        2. Operates below your consciousness
        3. Uses weird, indirect channels
          1. Sweaty palms, etc.
        4. You "feel" something is wrong
    3. 2. Internal Computer
      1. Adaptive unconscious
        1. Not like Freud's unconscious
        2. Giant computer quickly and quietly processing data; a lot of data
          1. BTW, this is how speed reading works
        3. Everyone toggles back and forth between conscious mind and adaptive unconscious
          1. Happens in seconds...2 seconds...
        4. People are suspicious of this kind of rapid cognition
    4. 3. A different and better world
      1. How paying attention to instantaneous impressions/conclusions = different and better world
      2. Pay too much attention to the grand themes of society
      3. Have to make sure we agonize over our decisions to always be rational
    5. Purpose of "Blink"
      1. 1. Convince people decisions made quickly
        1. Just as good as those deliberated over
      2. 2. When do we trust our instincts
        1. Unconscious is powerful
          1. Can be thrown off
          2. Has competing interests/emotions/sentiments
          3. If it goes awry, it is for specific reasons
      3. 3. Snap judgments and 1st impressions can be educated and controlled
        1. You can teach yourself to do this, just like everything else
  4. The Theory of Thin Slices: How a Little Bit of Knowledge Goes a Long Way (Ch.1)
    1. Thin-slicing
      1. "Ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on vary narrow slices of experience."
      2. Ability to zero in on what really matters
    2. 1. The Love Lab
      1. SPAFF
        1. Coding System of 20 separate categories
          1. Ex. Digust, Anger, Defensiveness, Whinning
      2. 3 min. Marriage Counseling Video
        1. Code every second for facial SPAFF
        2. 95% accuracy for determining divorce in 15 years
    3. 2. Marriage and Morse Code
      1. No overt hostility
      2. Defensiveness; "Yes-buts"
      3. Positive vs. Negative Emotions
        1. Marriage surviving
          1. Ratio = 5 positive to 1 negative
      4. All relationships have a "Marital DNA" pattern
        1. Distinctive signature
          1. arises naturally and automatically
      5. 2 relationship states
        1. Positive sentiment override
          1. Positive emotion overrides irritability
          2. like a buffer
        2. Negative sentiment override
          1. relatively neutral things get perceived as negative
    4. 3. Importance of Contempt
      1. Four Horsemen
        1. Defensiveness
        2. Stonewalling
          1. Men do this more
        3. Criticism
          1. Women do this more
        4. Contempt
          1. The most important; Special
          2. Closely related to disgust
          3. About completely rejecting/excluding your partner
          4. Measure this and you know everything you need to know
    5. 4. The Secrets of the Bedroom
      1. Personality 5 Dimensions
        1. Extraversion
        2. Agreeableness
        3. Conscientiousness
        4. Emotional stability
        5. Openness to new experiences
        6. Better predicted by strangers than friends
      2. What people say
        1. Not very objective about ourselves
        2. People lie or feel awkward answering questions
        3. People often don't know the "truth" about themselves
      3. Look at "Indirect Measures
        1. Body language
        2. Facial expressions
        3. Subtle voice tone
        4. Sweating
        5. Heart rate
    6. 5. Listening to Doctors
      1. It is a matter of respect
        1. Thru tone of voice
      2. Next time with a new doctor
        1. Dr. isn't listening
        2. Dr. talking down
        3. Dr. not being respectful
        4. Listen to your feeling = You thin-sliced him
    7. 6. Power of the Glance
      1. Why do we thin-slice?
        1. Come to rely on that ability
        2. Lots of hidden info out there
        3. Careful attention to seconds = lots of details
  5. The Locked Door: The Secret Life of Snap Decisions
    1. Snap judgments
      1. Very fast
      2. Unconscious
      3. Rely on the least amount of information
      4. Take place behind a locked door (i.e., your conscious)
    2. 1. Primed for Action
      1. Free-will = an illusion
        1. Mostly operating on automatic pilot
      2. Snap judgments
        1. Not affected (as much) by outside influences
    3. 2. The Storytelling Problem
      1. Ex. Speed-dating
        1. People know within the first 1 minute
        2. Start with conscious ideal = what you think you want
        3. What is used in the first couple of minutes = not usually on the list
          1. People cannot figure out what it is
      2. Subtle influences are often not detected in the mind
      3. People often demand an answer, when an answer is not available
        1. Using the unconscious mind = often cannot tell "why"
      4. Blocked?
        1. Your conscious is blocked, not your unconscious
          1. Feed your unconscious, it will lead your unconscious to the solution
  6. The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall For Tall, Dark, and Handsome Men
    1. Quick info on Harding
      1. Tall, dark, and handsome
        1. Grew more so as he aged
      2. Not particularly intelligent
      3. Gambled, drank, and chased women
        1. Sexual exploits are legendary
      4. Vague, indifferent on policy
      5. Horrible at speeches
      6. One of the worst presidents in history
    2. 1. The Dark Side of Thin-Slicing
      1. Warren Harding error
        1. Dark side of rapid cognition
          1. Why imbeciles often end up in power positions
    3. 2. Blink in Black and White
      1. Unconscious attitude
        1. Second-level of attitude
          1. Racial attitude
        2. Immediate, automatic associations that "tumble out"
        3. Don't choose it; may not be aware of it
        4. Powerful predictor of how we act in certain types of situations
    4. 3. Taking Care of the Customer
      1. Sales people fall for the "Warren Harding Error"
    5. 4. Spotting the Sucker
      1. You get more for less time with the "sucker"
        1. Even though the sucker will not recommend you or come back to your business
    6. 5. Think About Dr. King
      1. First Impressions
        1. Result of our experiences and environment
          1. Can be changed
          2. Change the experiences used as the reference point
  7. Paul Van Riper's Big Victory: Creating Structure for Spontaneity (Ch.4)
    1. Thin-slicing
      1. Unconscious editting
        1. Recognize patterns
        2. Make snap judgments
    2. 1. One Morning in the Gulf
      1. Decisions under pressure
        1. Don't logically and systematically compare all available options
        2. In real life, that is too slow
      2. People make decisive, rapid-fire decisions in high-pressure situations with limited information
    3. 2. The Structure of Spontaneity
      1. Improv Comedy
        1. People make decisions on the spur of the moment
        2. No as random as you think
          1. They practice and critique each other's performances
        3. Idea of agreement
          1. Ability for comedians to accept everything that happens to them
      2. Good spontaneous decisions
        1. Reflection of the training, rules and rehearsals
        2. Fast-moving, rapid-fire, high-stress experiences
    4. 3. The Perils of Introspection
      1. Unconscious cognition
        1. Ex. Remembering the face of a stranger
    5. 4. A Crisis in the ER
      1. The more information does not always result in better decisions
      2. Taking out the conscious mind can lead to better diagnoses
    6. 5. When Less is More
      1. Too much info does not always result in better decisions
      2. Doctors would do better if they knew less about their patients
        1. Such as factoring out race and gender
      3. One has to learn when to resist a snap judgment
      4. In good decision making, avoiding wasting time matters
  8. Kenna's Dilemma: The Right and Wrong Way to Ask People What They Want (Ch.5)
    1. 1. Second Look at First Impressions
      1. People don't inherently know what they think
        1. They are influenced by experiences and environments
        2. a/k/a Priming
    2. 2. Pepsi's Challenge
      1. Ex. "New Coke" debacle
        1. Market research showed that people preferred the taste of "New Coke" to "Classic Coke"
        2. Switch by Coke resulted in public outrage
        3. Coke had to bring back "Classic Coke"
        4. Illustrates the difficulty of finding out what people think
    3. 3. The Blind Leading the Blind
      1. Sensation Transference
        1. Products are the product and the packaging
        2. If you change one, you will alter all emotional attachments for consumers
        3. People make decisions on
          1. Taste
          2. Memories
          3. Imaginations
          4. Visual cues
          5. Don't ignore one dimension for change in another
    4. 4. The Chair of Death
      1. The "Weird"
        1. Category of products that are different
        2. Takes us a while to understand we like them
        3. Fights against previous memories, experiences
      2. New and different = vulnerable to market research
    5. 5. The Gift of Experience
      1. "Experts"
        1. People who become specialized in "experiencing" something
        2. Can reliably account for their reactions
        3. First impressions do matter
      2. Understanding your mind
        1. People don't have the ability to explain exactly what we are feeling
        2. Often asked to explain our feelings in meaningless terms
          1. i.e. Texture, airiness
      3. Decoding your mind
        1. Takes time and experience
        2. You can interpret your snap judgments
  9. Seven Seconds in the Bronx: The Delicate Art of Mind Reading (Ch.6)
    1. 1. Three Fatal Mistakes
      1. People make predictions and inferences about what people are thinking/feeling
      2. Judgments and Impressions of people
        1. Most common
        2. Most important
        3. Form of rapid congnition
      3. Mind-reading failures
        1. Lead to
          1. arguments
          2. misunderstandings
          3. hurt feelings
    2. 2. The Theory of Mind Reading
      1. Human facial displays of emotion
        1. FACS (Facial Action Coding System)
    3. 3. The Naked Face
      1. The physiological basis of how we thin-slice other people
      2. Emotions can start in the face
      3. Face can display emotions
      4. Goes both ways
    4. 4. A Man, A Woman, and a Light Switch
      1. If you cannot put yourself in the mind of others
        1. You gain nothing by looking at the eyes and faces
      2. Fusiform gyrus
        1. Part of the brain used in identifying faces
    5. 5. Arguing with a Dog
      1. Fast-paced thinking
        1. Can lose perspective
      2. Arousal can leave us mind-blind
    6. 6. Running Out of White Space
      1. White space
        1. "Distance between the target and any potential assailant." Gavin de Becker
          1. If you have not read "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker. It is a MUST read!
      2. Split-second decisions
        1. Vulnerable to stereo-types and prejudices
        2. Wait a second (literally just a second) = increase your thin-slicing snap judgments
    7. 7. "Something in My Mind Just Told Me I Didn't Have to Shoot Yet"
      1. Unconscious thinking
        1. Can be trained
        2. Can be enhanced with experiences
  10. Afterword
    1. 1. The Lesson of Chancellorsville
      1. Formal, conventional analysis does NOT work
      2. Takes too much time
      3. Too much information
    2. 2. Paul Van Riper's War
      1. Judgment is frail
        1. There are characteristics/signs you can watch for
        2. You can derail your judgment
      2. Too much information can hamper thin-slicing and snap judgment
      3. Don't confuse information with understanding
        1. They are not the same thing
    3. 3. When to Blink And When To Think
      1. Trust our instincts vs. Thinking things thru?
        1. 1. Straightforward choices = think it thru
        2. 2. Complicated choices with a lot of variables = allow unconscious instincts a place
      2. Challenge = combine conscious deliberation and instinctive judgment
    4. 4. Call to Action
      1. Encourage practical problem solving
      2. Explore the hidden recesses of your mind
        1. Weaknesses and strengths of human judgment