The book revolves around one main idea: “thin-slicing.” In other words, it means our ability to use limited information to come to a final decision. This suggests hence that our spontaneous decisions are as good as our planned ones. The author brings many examples from different fields to reinforce his idea. Having presented this idea, the author further explains how such ability could be distorted by our prejudices, stereotypes, etc. And how too much information can lead to misjudgment.

The book is very interesting, and the way the author presented his ideas then supported them with examples is what makes it accessible to the layman. Also the author did not bring his example from only one field, but rather brought examples from archeology, advertisement, medicine, etc. This variety of examples reinforces his idea of thin slicing and how it functions in the real world. I found myself doing the exercises he referred to and I was amazed of how accurate his analysis is.

Apart of some repetition in the ideas, the book is brilliant and is worth reading.