Don't Blink?(Letter to the editor)

Publication: Skeptical Inquirer

Publication Date: 01-JUL-06

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COPYRIGHT 2006 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal

If the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER prints a negative book review (see "The Power of Not Thinking Is Not Very Great," March/April 2006), I'm not likely to read the book. Fortunately, I had already read Malcom Gladwell's Blink, and so I won't miss out.

As a skeptic, I understand easily the criticisms that Cecil (the reviewer) lobs at Gladwell, and can see no obvious technical faults in his review. But frankly, I don't think it matters, because he so completely misses the point. Let's just say the book was overanalyzed--something that many skeptics, myself included, are wont to do.

The most important thing, after having read the review, is to disabuse yourself of the notion that Blink is somehow antiscience. I didn't get that impression at all. In...

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