Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye

by Michael R. LeGault

Book Overview

Outraged by the downward spiral of American intellect and culture, this text offers the flip side to the theory that our best decision-making is done on impulse. If bestselling books are advising us not to think, the author argues, it comes as no surprise that sharp, incisive reasoning has become a lost art.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416523782
• ISBN13: 9781416523789
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Threshold Editions
• Length: 355 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.7" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Like an uncut diamond, worth a lot, but more if polished

Think! could have been better written. In places, LeGault's writing and thinking seem little more polished than the "blogs" and "posts" you can find on almost any topic all over the Internet. LeGault's thoughts are roughly strung together. His writing is often persuasive, but also too often uncomfortably close to a rant. Normally that would have been enough for me to put down this book and move on to another. We are blessed these days to have many powerfully written and thoughtful books available, many more than a person can read in a lifetime. But despite the flaws, LeGault quickly captured my attention. Although I did not always agree with what he had to say, his thinking always seemed sharp, incisive, and clever. Just as he encourages us to be. Rarely do I find that in a book like this. And although I enjoyed reading Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, and his Tipping Point, I was not impressed by what Gladwell had to say. Sparkly and entertaining, Gladwell's books look better than they are. LeGault's book is the opposite. LeGault's presentation could be improved. His arguments could be refined. The whole thing would be worth a lot more if polished. But still, it is a diamond, albeit in the rough. At heart, the book is better than it looks. As LeGault says, "More and more, large numbers of people substitute [politically correct] views, hard-line political ideology, or cultish balderdash for hard-won knowledge and flexible, powerful reasoning and problem-solving skills." Most books show mostly the former. Think! shows mostly the latter. You can agree or disagree with LeGault's conclusions on some of the topics he discusses in this book. Like most of the other reviewers, I did not agree with some of what LeGault says -- on climate change, for example. But even though I liked reading Gladwell's books and have no qualms about his success, I have to say that LeGault is in a different class. Gladwell blinks. LeGault thinks.

A must read for all educators and politicians!

Michael LeGault succinctly and elegantly details the major issues haunting our society today. He nails the root cause--the almost insidious degradation or failure of our ability to think objectively and critically versus with emotional agendas and the latest media sound bite. This book will either scare you to death or give cause for great hope and optimism!

Breath of Fresh Air

It's about time somebody challenged Gladwell. I was beginning to wonder if anyone in North America has a mind of it's own. I read Th!nk in two sittings, and it is one of the smartest and most entertaining books written in the last 10 years. Political correctness, our culture of victimization, therapy, and consumerism are destructive. Th!nk offers answers instead of encouraging us to continue our slide downward into stupidity.

Great Book--Washington Post Review

THINK: An Answer to the Bestselling "Blink" Sunday, January 29, 2006; BW09 THE WASHINGTON POST Better not blink , says Michael R. LeGault -- Blink being the bestselling appreciation of quick-draw decision-making by Malcolm Gladwell, a former Washington Post staff writer. In his riposte, Think: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye (Threshold, $24.95), LeGault argues that this country should insist on more critical thinking and painstaking analysis while downplaying the ad lib; the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina would seem to bear him out. LeGault takes particular issue with a prominent example from Blink : the story of the J. Paul Getty Museum's kouros , a kind of statue produced widely in ancient Greece. Several experts, including scientists, had authenticated a kouros bought by the museum in 1984, but the legendary Thomas Hoving, former director of New York's Metropolitan Museum, sensed that something was wrong with the piece. His doubts, among others', prompted the Getty to order a thorough investigation, which led to the conclusion that the statue was a brand-new forgery. According to LeGault, what Gladwell overlooked in citing this as a shining example of an intellectual lightning stroke is that when Hoving smelled a fish, he was drawing on decades of experience. "In other words," LeGault writes, "lying behind these 'snap judgments' are educated impressions formed by years of study, thought, and analysis." LeGault is on more familiar ground in arguing for the value of a liberal education, but even here he points to interesting examples, such as the "scientific hell-raiser" Lynn Margulis, an expert on microorganisms whose work on cell evolution has won her multiple awards. LeGault traces Margulis's brainy iconoclasm to "her exposure to the Great Books curriculum while an undergraduate at the University of Chicago." "The curriculum emphasized the reading of original works to trace and understand how an idea developed," LeGault goes on, "rather than the use of half-truths of textbooks or the language of specialized academic disciplines."

Don't 'Thin-Slice' Th!nk"

If one were to take Malcolm Gladwell's advice to "Thin-Slice", they should just read the cliff notes of "Blink." Would reading just the chapter titles of "Blink" fairly explain the message in "Blink?" The answer is of course, NO. Likewise, it appears previous negative reviews on this web site regarding Michael LeGault's "Think" were from readers who 'thin-sliced' "Think." The result was a misunderstanding of the message. In part, LeGault's "Think" is a response (correction) to the theory expressed in Gladwell's "Blink" that most decisions including life threatening situations and monumental decisions made by government leaders can and should be made through 'thin-slicing', intuition, and gut feelings. However, responding to Gladwell's hypothesis is not the main point of "Think." LeGault reminds the reader that bad decisions are based on greed or fast fixes (putting a band-aid on a pipe). While LeGault accepts that intuition can be a valuable part of the thought process, he articulates that failures are caused as a result on non-critical thinking. He provides examples of government (Katrina), business (GM and Ford) and social (every other kid on Ritalin and political correctness gone too far) failures supporting his message. That being, bad decisions are the result of irrational, "blink" thinking methods. Previous reviews appear politically motivated. However, those reviewers misunderstood the message. This is not a "You are stupid because you are Democrat or ignorant because you are Republican" book. Rather, LeGault reminds the reader of the value of critical thinking and that incisive and analytical reasoning in America appears a lost art. This is truly a good and positive read. "Think" is the modern "Common Sense" (Thomas Paine) and a must read for decision makers, government and business leaders.