<p>I know a lot of you are making the final choice today. Some of you are searching for the right method of making that choice. You might want to read the first few pages of Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller called “Blink.” In it, he discusses how research seems to point to humans having a subconscious mechanism for coming to conclusions that runs sort of parallel to the rational and methodical fact-gathering and logial analysis that we tend to think is the best way.</p>
<p>To make a long story short, he proposes that the body (sweat glands, heartbeat, etc) reacts in almost instantaneous ways to certain things, far quicker than the mind can, rationally and consciously…and that these quick responses are sometimes MORE accurate than the more methodical rational analysis. So…those immediate, first reactions we get when we first meet someone or visit a college might be more than just “emotions.” They might be quick, cut-to-the-chase, filter-out-all-irrelevant-info choices that are actually quite legit.</p>
<p>Bottom line is, if you believe Gladwell, don’t dismiss those first impressions as silly, emotional, immature, and meaningless. If a place just gave you and inexplicable “bad vibe” it might actually be a part of your mind telling you something that your rational conscious mind cannot quite grasp.</p>