The author describes the main subject of his book as "thin-slicing": our ability to use limited information from a very narrow period of experience to come to a conclusion.
The book begins with the story of the Getty Kouros (Archaic Greek sculptors reduced human anatomy and musculature in these statues to decorative patterning on the surface of the marble.), which was a statue brought to the J. Paul Getty Museum in California.
It was thought by many experts to be legitimate, but when others first looked at it, their initial responses were skeptical. For example, George Despinis, head of the Acropolis Museum in Athens, said "Anyone who has ever seen a sculpture coming out of the ground could tell that thing has never been in the ground".