Blink

because one of Gottman’s findings is that for a marriage to survive, the ratio of positive to negative emotion in a given encounter has to be at least five to one.

The power of knowing, in that first two seconds, is not a gift given magically to a fortunate few. It is an ability that we can all cultivate for ourselves.

Our instinctive reactions often have to compete with all kinds of other interests and emotions and sentiments.

We live in a world saturated with information. We have virtually unlimited amounts of data at our fingertips at all times, and we’re well versed in the arguments about the dangers of not knowing enough and not doing our homework. But what I have sensed is an enormous frustration with the unexpected costs of knowing too much, of being inundated with information. We have come to confuse information with understanding.

that narrowing allowed them to focus on the threat in front of them

their senses narrowed

drastically limits the range and amount of information that we have to deal with

This is how the human body reacts to extreme stress