The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: Critics of First Impressions
You know how when you meet someone and you just see them, your brain tells you things about them? Often-times it's something like "there's a disagreeable moron" or "watch out for her, there's trouble," and because you've been conditioned that there's more to someone than looks, you reserve judgement until you get to know them. And sometimes the conditioning is right and they really weren't anything like the moron they looked and your judgement was bad.
But more often than not, my first impressions have been dead-on lately and I've had to apologize to my subconscious because he was right. That creepy-looking guy really was an ignorant wretch, and every conversation I've had with him since has confirmed that he was every bit as arrogant and as wrong as my brain told me. Same goes for the wench who I knew would be bad news... the brain was reeling on that one and I ignored it. At least the first time I did myself the service of being right.
Then again, I'm a bit twisted and my subconscious has had a good bit of unconventional fine-tuning. For instance, I figued Shem would be a good friend and a personable guy from the moment I laid eyes on him... even with his three earrings and bleached hair. Same goes for Wilson... my brain just told me that I'd stumbled upon a kindred soul and it turns out that the ol' hamster that resides in my skull made a good call. That's not to say that I haven't been wrong with a couple of calls... but far more often than not (especially since I've gotten to college) I've been generally right and even dead-on a spooky number of times.
So all that to say is: don't judge a person at first glance and never bother to meet them, but be wary of casting aside a first impression if you know that you've been in a habit of making good insights about people. God gave us the subconscious for a reason and while it isn't perfect, it would be foolish not to at least pay attention to it.
Posted by Vengeful Cynic at April 20, 2003 02:53 AM