Okay, here's something that delves in to the (dis)functionality of the human brain a little...
I've been thinking about first impressions and the opinions we form of people or events at the first encounter. I believe that forming a first impression of someone/something is unavoidable and need not be considered a negative character trait. In fact, most of the time I find my initial assesment constructive and fairly useful. Recently, however, I had an argument with someone (I'm going to call this person Bob for now) who suggested that this modus operandi was flawed. Bob argued most vociferously that I couldn't possibly glean enough information on first meeting someone to form a valid opinion of them and that it was therefore unfair to attempt to.
Well, after some thinking time, I remebered the old proverb "Never judge a book by it's cover" and came up with this (albeit somewhat contrived!) scenario:
You have a presentation to give on a subject you know absolutely nothing about, let's say satanic cults. After spending most of your time out drinking rather than researching (I'm sure noone has ever done that...  ), you finally drag yourself to the local reference library. After an exhaustive search and some rather concerned looks from the libarian, you find two books. Both are titled "Everything you ever wanted to know about satantic cults, but were too afraid to ask", but they are by different authors (neither of whom you have heard of). There is no blurb or foreword in either book, but one is old and battered (you think it might have been Lucifer's personal edition!) and the other looks like it was bought just yesterday. Both volumes are fairly hefty and it's clear that you only have enough time to read one before compiling your presentation. Which do you choose?
I'm offering this as (very) tentative proof that a first impressions are not only unavoidable, but necessary for us to continue functioning.
What do people think? *braces for onslaught!*
Owen
"It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?" - Ronald Reagan
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First impressions
Posted - 16/11/2006 : 15:50:11
