Trains of thought...

After weeks of frantic preparation leading up to the carrier trials, I havent been flying a whole lot. Typically this time sitting around is typically wasted in short order. In one of my rare instances of using spare time productively I read two books: Freakonomics by Dubner & Levitt, and Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

I read Freakonomics first as I had heard so much about it, and was ultimately disappointed. Basically it chronicles the studies of Steven Levitt, an economics professor at The University of Chicago, and runs through some of his more interesting findings. Among the chapters are discussions on the effect of abortion on the crime rate (it brings crime down), and the mathematical detection of cheating in sumo wrestling and other sports. The problem was that the book was 90% hype, 10% substance. I got the general impression that it was written to make money for the authors and to look good on the bookstore bookshelf rather than edify its readers.


Malcolm Gladwell's Blink on the other hand, was quite fascinating. He delves into the inner workings of the brain, specifically how many of our thoughts and actions are contolled by the subconcious. Of particular interest is his thesis that the best decisions are made by concentrating on small amounts of critical information, rather than considering all the facts.He writes about a war game, in which a retired Marine general playing the role of a low-tech rogue middle eastern dictator soundly defeated the Pentagons best and brightest. Gladwell (supported by the general in question Major General Paul van Riper) maintains that the Pentagon suffered because of information overload. Because of all the information technology avalaible to the Pentagons "blue" force, there decisions and movements were slowed down and hampered as a result of the leadership overanalyzing every single decision. MajGen van Riper on the other hand, used a loose command structure in which he pushed many of the critical decsions down to lower level commanders in his enemy "red" force. In the ensuing war game, the red force inflicts critical blows on the simulated Americans, including destroying an aircraft carrier.


All in all Blink is definitely a good read. It is a little thin on substance at times (to be expected of anything on the bestseller lists) but overall enjoyable with some interesting points.