I re-listened to this audio book last month. The last time I read it, I didn’t review it so I didn’t quite remember what’s all about. It’s the problem if you don’t review it after reading a book.

In the beginning, the author talked about how good we are at thin slicing. Thin slicing what most of us do naturally and sometimes less input is better than more input as we often end up confusing noise with real data. From the statistician’s perspective, too many variables can confound/confuse a person in making a decision. Cutting down the variables can help clarify things better due to correlation among the variables (independent vs. dependent). I was especially impressed with a person in the story that can call if a tennis player is about to double fault before it happens. The “lightning dating” example, in which a couple is given 6 mins to “interview” one another before being moved to the next table was also interesting; I guess this is how “table for six” comes about. The author cited the subconscious mind – gut feel or rapid cognition is very powerful. Indeed, I think some people can pick up some of the clues not known to others. Is it experience, gut feeling or six sense or telepathy? Probably all of the above.

Thin slicing can work the opposite way to hurt us, for example, Pepsi challenge. I never knew that the fault of the Pepsi challenge lies in asking if a person selects a cola based on a sip test or a gulp (whole can) test. My MBA marketing class did not drill down to this detail (or I failed to learn it). Being a sweeter formula, Pepsi would fail a gulp test but win a sip test against Coke due to its sweeter formula. There is a “duration” dimension to enjoying too much of a good thing.

Someone can also take advantage of our thin slicing and manipulate to their benefit. The use of “priming” by politicians to win our votes are a classic example – coined as the Warren Harding Effect, referring to President Warren Harding’s being elected to the Senate and the President, because he “looks like one.” President Harding ended to be one the worst presidents according to the historians.

Can an intelligent person be oblivion to this kind of “blink” skill. The author made a case that an autistic person somehow miss a part of his brain function to read the body language, thus cannot pick up the subtle cue from people. So, picking up the body language including all the tiny muscles on our face or little gesture we made allow us to make blink decision. How we translate the body language in millisecond range is probably make a difference of life and death – like Ronald Reagan’s assassination and how a few cops in a urban city can mistake pulling a wallet to be pulling a gun and shot a young immigrant to death with ten’s of bullets – all within a minute, as told by the author.

The author went to great details about what each of the facial muscles do to tell us our mood and truths. There was a lot of technical details that were hard to digest. A good cartoon animator or a good poker player can probably pick it up really fast. It’s definitely a good skill to have so you can tell if a person is lying or telling a truth.

Overall, Gladwell tells good stories. There are lots of good stories that kept the readers interested throughout the book. But the abrupt ending makes the reader wanting for more or for a grand unified theory. There is none. Like many of the reviewer in Amazon said, some people are good at thin slicing and some people are not.

This book depicts a story of a woman, Lady Lu, in the 17th century of China who rose from a farm girl to a respected, proud and perhaps feared woman in the village and her strong relationship with her Laotong (old saint) – Snow Flower.

Some of the Chinese traditions in this era and in this geographic was not familiar to me, such as not moving into the husband’s household until the wife has given birth, the Laotong kind of sworn sisterhood from the young tender age, butcher’s being a the bottom of the social standing, having a different language among women, and etc.

The novel went to tremendous details of foot binding for women. This is rude awakening for me. I didn’t know how much pain and suffering the old Chinese tradition, dominated by men, inflicted on the women. It’s definitely a bum deal to be born in that era. The details of the foot binding reminds me of my grandmother who had gone through the same ordeal. I always wondered how the feet came about. Now I know.

As in many young women’s mind, the “bed business” is both a curious and anxious subject before they get married. In the traditional Chinese culture, the “bed business” is a tool to make boys; girls were the “worthless” branches. Women’s body is nothing but a vehicle to procreate and prolong the family name for man. Very little did we know that there is we inherit as much genes from our mother’s as our father’s. It’s too bad that Chinese culture emphasize men more than women. I believe someday they’ll wake up and find that having an unbalanced society is not healthy. What’s going to happen to those horny Chinese men who can not find their mates. Crimes and other unhealthy habits come to mind.

As a father of a 6-year daughter, I feel tremendous relieved that my daughter was born in this era and this country. It’s insane and outrageous to consider women less than men. I will raise my daughter to be as capable and independent as men with a strong pride.

The main character, Lady Lu, is very proud, perhaps through her own circumstance and luck, and at time time very controlling. Sometimes, we seem to think we know more about how best to behave and give our friends the same advises, when in fact our friends just need some empathy from us, as in the case of Snow Flower. The best way to resolve the issues is to give our best friends the unconditional love and be a good listener. Try not to change them. And ultimately, we need to seek forgiveness and make amends as Lady Lu finally did for Snow Flower.

The relationship between Lady Lu and Snow Flowers is an unusual one even by today’s standard. Having a soul mate, matched at 6 years old, and grow up together until death is quite unbelievable. How many of us, even excluding men, actually have such kind of friends nowadays? Perhaps, it’s only possible in that era.

Overall, the story is mesmerizing from the beginning to the end. The narrator of the audio version of the book was especially lively, mimicking all the voices from the kid voice to that of old women. It’s like having the individual characters telling their own stories. Excellent book.