Jan 10, 2005

Instinct Beats Analysis, So Think Fast: “Blink: The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking” By Malcolm Gladwell

Los Angeles Times

A cautionary note to all number crunchers, data evaluators and general information grinders everywhere: "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" may not be the book for you. But everyone else is likely to find it intoxicating, if not entirely affirming. Malcolm Gladwell, author of the bestselling "The Tipping Point," now turns his considerable narrative gifts to how we make decisions, what kind of information we need to make them, and how much homework and preparation are required. The answer, seemingly, is that we'd all be better off to rely on snap judgments and first impressions. "Blink" is a valentine to those who make decisions on the fly -- the impulsive, the intuitive and the analytically challenged among us. After reading "Blink," all those who take their time, evaluate options, make charts, read the research, surf the Web, simulate, and smugly pride themselves on preparation might end up feeling like fools. The rash decision, Gladwell contends, is not necessarily so rash, after all. Just because a decision is made quickly does not mean it is ill considered.
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Jan 3, 2005

Shylock & The Limits Of Law

New York Sun

Historical antecedents aside, Shylock is to Shakespeare what Jesus Christ became to Mel Gibson - an aesthetic creation that so tramples upon profound sensitivities that the art itself becomes tantamount to contraband. Hitler, for understandable reasons, appreciated the propagandist potential of "The Merchant of Venice" - a play that provided an opportunity to both enjoy Shakespeare and exploit every conceivable anti-Semitic stereotype there is, all for the price of the same ticket.
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