Blink
The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Chapter One
The Theory of Thin Slices: How a Little Bit of
Knowledge Goes a Long Way
Some years ago, a young couple came to the University of Washington
to visit the laboratory of a psychologist named John Gottman. They
were in their twenties, blond and blue-eyed with stylishly tousled
haircuts and funky glasses. Later, some of the people who worked in
the lab would say they were the kind of couple that is easy to
like-intelligent and attractive and funny in a droll, ironic kind of
way-and that much is immediately obvious from the videotape Gottman
made of their visit. The husband, whom I'll call Bill, had an
endearingly playful manner. His wife, Susan, had a sharp, deadpan
wit.
They were led into a small room on the second floor of the
nondescript two-story building that housed Gottman's operations, and
they sat down about five feet apart on two office chairs mounted on
raised platforms. They both had electrodes and sensors clipped to
their fingers and ears, which measured things like their heart rate,
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