The Art of "Thin-slicing"

"'Thin-slicing' refers to the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience" (p.23 of Blink)



Gladwell is describing a type of thinking process that is not frequently credited compared to the 'thinking everything through process'. The thinking process Gladwell is talking about is mainly used in situations where we're under pressure, or simply tight for time. In these types of circumstances our mind is forced to compress or filter a large amount of information while retaining the small meaningful bits. This type of thinking doesn't seem as important as the 'thinking things through process', but as I read this statement I became skeptical about this. This made me think of events where I had to make quick decisions by processing the information I already knew regarding my possition. Thinking about these situations made me realize how important it is to have a trained mind that can efficiently sift though facts and come to a reasonable conclusion. I feel we can sometimes take this ability for granted and fail to recognize it as a major factor in decision making. The fact is we aren't always going to have enough time to figure out all the possibilities regarding a situation, which makes 'thin-slicing' so essential to everyday life.