Been re-listening to the audiobook of Blink by Malcolm Gladwell about what he calls "thin slicing," or those moments when your subconscious mind takes in details and information about something you see, and in an instant is able to arrive at complex and often accurate opinions about the thing or situation you are viewing. As a visually-oriented right brain guy I really resonate with this concept, and find the book to be fascinating and inspiring.

Highlights: Gladwell details a case where a museum tested an ancient relic for 14 months, and once validated bought the piece for millions of dollars, only to have several experts on antiquities express deep concerns about the piece the instant they saw it. It turned out to be a fake. That instinct that the experts had in an instant, a blink, came from much study and knowledge, but appeared in their mind as nothing more than a hunch, they could not explain why they felt that way. In this particular case an instinct from a persons subconscious turned out to be more accurate then 14 months of scientific analyses.

Gadwell also discusses the dark side of thin slicing, and ways it can be foiled, or swayed by other forces inside us. He talks about Warren Harding and the handsome, imposing presence he had. He LOOKED so presidential and powerful and healthy that people were persuaded he was appropriate for presidential office (yet he died in office of a heart attack and was widely considered to be on our worst presidents.)

I see this concept as explaining many mysteries in our life, from the business man who always seems to know exactly when to get out of an investment, to the reason extroverts and attractive people's success seems so often to be out of proportion with their ability or talent. There are a few areas in my life where I believe I strong thin-slicing ability, and I have always allowed myself to trust my "gut," but it's fascinating to see how those who trust only in analysis are rarely able to accept that kind of instinctual "know how" as valuable.

I highly recommend Blink if you find any of these ideas interesting.

Malcolm Gladwell, photographed by Brooke Williams