"Blink"...Not as Good as "The Tipping Point" But Still Useful

Well, I just finished Malcolm Gladwell's post-"Tipping Point" book, "Blink.". Now, I found "Blink" less interesting than "Tipping Point" but I still think it's important in the rescue line of work. Gladwell refers to "thin-slicing" whereby we make snap judgments in less than two seconds based on our accumulated education and societal imprints (such as society's views on race).

I'm guessing that many rescue volunteers thin-slice everyday. A lot of times within two seconds we can tell who is or is not a good candidate for adopting one of our animals. Now, a lot of this has to do with our experience with prior failed adoptions such as college students that dump their pet at the end of the semester or disheveled individual who chains his dog outside 24.95 hours of the day. Gladwell opens the book with an account of how art experts were able to identify a forged statue with one look, even though many could not pinpoint why they knew it was a fake. They just knew. And I'm sure many of us can attest that we've sized up adopters in a similar manner.

But, Gladwell's book goes on to detail how thin-slicing can get us into trouble. And, in my next post, I'll detail exactly why rescue groups need to be careful when thin-slicing.