Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

This is what I wrote about Blink on the Shelfari review site, a few months ago:

'Interesting book and very readable. It explores the role of intuition in our thinking (the blink being that sudden feeling or understanding; rapid cognition) and how this may contribute to great decision making, but can also lead us astray.

I would have, personally, found the book more useful if there has been some guidance on when to trust the "blink" and how to develop the ability to "blink" more successfully. '

Recently, I picked up the book and re-read the final chapter and realise I had missed the point.

Blink ends with a "conclusion" involving a tale about a female trombone player, Abbie Conant. Abbie was chosen for an orchestra on the basis of an audition where she played the trombone behind a screen. As they listened, everyone knew she was the one trombone player they wanted for their orchestra.

Abbie's problems began when she stepped in front of the screen and the music director realised she was a woman. Since she was a woman, his eyes told him, she could not have the strength to play a 'masculine' instrument like the trombone. She was demoted and given less pay than her male colleagues. Although she was picked because of her effect on the ears of the music director, she faced discrimination because of her effect on his eyes.

She took the case to court. And won. Now many orchestras conduct screened auditions and the number of women in orchestras has increased as a direct result.

What was the point I missed?

The first point is: we should encourage and allow the blink moment to happen, by keeping our minds free of prejudices and preconceptions.

The second point is: as we may not know what these prejudices and preconceptions are, we should be prepared to expend some effort creating situations to enable the blink to happen.

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Do you believe your perceptions are always logical?

Do you believe you can hear clearly without being distracted by what you actually see ?

I was fascinated by a recent Horizon programme on the BBC that proves you can't.

Don't believe me? Try the McGurk effect for yourself.

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On Tana River by David Livingstone

Just finished reading this book, written by my father in the early 1960s. If you are interested in a vivid description of the early work of missionaries in this remote area of Kenya (on the Tana River), then this book will be of interest.

My father, who died recently, was commissioned to write this book by the Methodist Missionary society.

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What I liked:

The book really consists of a series of self contained anecdotes or episodes. This which led me to think this would be really suited for publication as a web blog - if such a thing had existed in the 1960s!

My father brings each anecdote to life, often beginning by writing in the present tense. I love the way he paints pictures with words and he chooses words with care - neither too complicated, nor too simple.

He refers back to historic events, neatly citing the sources of his information, elegantly and without interrupting the flow of the narrative.

Most importantly, he writes about the Africans with affection and respect. His enthusiasm for his ministry is very evident.

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What I didn't like:

The book reads as a series of articles (indeed, this is how it was commissioned) and, athough there are linking themes, there is little sense of progression or development.

The stories, often beginning in the present tense with a lively, active voice, tend to end with passages written in the past tense and with a passive voice. I believe my father used this technique deliberately in order to deliver a generalised, evangelical message at the end of each section of the book. This is, of course, a typical preaching technique. But, as someone more interested in the stories than in the theological content of the mission work, I found this deadened the impact of some anecdotes.

I would, of course, have been very interested in how the conditions affected my father, personally. And how did my mother cope with life on the mission station and with three young children - myself and my two brothers? None of this is touched on. My father mentions my mother once, in passing and we don't feature - except one line with the fact that the youngest of us nearly died from diarrhoea!

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On Tana River (A Story of Kenya's Tana Church)