Malcolm Gladwell's book 'Blink : The Power of Thinking without Thinking', just out in paperback, is destined to be a classic in my opinion. Gladwell has an easy style and big ideas. His idea here is about the way that we form ideas 'in the blink of an eye'. This is a pre-cognitive activity, not available for introspection. Or in other words, we get an impression, make an opinion, but we don't know why.

He calls this magic moment 'thin-slicing' and proves through the book with anecdotal and experimental evidence that this effect is real and frequently deployed by individuals, knowingly or unknowingly. It's an unconscious process, quick and often righter than a slower more conscious and more logical processes.

We do a hell of a lot more with our unconscious than we currently accept

What does this mean? Well, it means that 'sensible and logical' ideas might easily fail if they do not stand up to the blink test. It means that we do a hell of a lot more with our unconscious than we currently accept. It means that we judge more quickly than we admit. There has been a recent study from Carleton University in Canada, reported by the BBC that says that we made judgments about whether we 'like' or 'don't like' websites in very short times. It seems to me that much web activity is carried out in the blink of an eye. We are carrying out research on Google. What makes us choose one listing over another? Whatever it is, it happens in a blink.

Gladwell says: "I think its time we paid more attention to those fleeting moments. I think that if we did, it would change the way wars are fought, the kind of products we see on the shelves, the kinds of movies that get made, the way police officers are trained, the way couples are counseled, the way job interviews are conducted and on and on--and if you combine all those little changes together you end up with a different and happier world."