First impression are made in 5-7 seconds which is amazing to me, as who can really tell that much in such a short amount of time. Sadly we humans do it all of the time. We see someone and based on what we see we make a decision about the person, what is going on, etc. The decision is made and then it is justified rather than the other way around, and usually the first impression most often is the final decision. We base our impressions most often by our sight first and then add in what we hear, if we hear anything at all. I read an interesting story that was about how we think with our eyes first see what you think; A bank had a 30 second commercial telling people that this bank provided it’s customers with the information that they needed to make better financial decisions. To illustrate how people used information to make good decisions it showed an Everest rock climber preparing, studying maps and weather charts before making his ascent. The viewers apparently did not hear the words of the commercial at all, and they were repeated three times. When the viewers were asked what the commercial was saying they said “the commercial is communicating that the bank is strong.” The producers were stunned, where did the viewers get that idea from? They saw a man carefully preparing a climbing trip and then an image that flashed on the screen for less that 4 seconds of the man rock climbing. The visual overwhelmed the verbal!
Take notice as you go through your day as to how much you think with your eyes, it is pretty amazing. I think the more we keep this information in the forefront of our thoughts it will help us to take a better look at what is in front of us and hopefully help us not make hasty impressions and decisions about those we encounter until we have been able to consider the verbal as well as the visual.
7/7/12
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