We are inundated today with numerous forms of media both on and off line. Everyone is giving their opinion or trying to sell to us or convince us in certain way. We make up our minds very quickly as to what to believe and accept as truth . Once we have made our decision usually founded on prejudice we then will search for the media that reinforces our set beliefs .
For this reason when you are dealing with any individual it is paramount to make a good first impression as to attempt to change someone’s mind is very difficult. Why then do we decide so quickly? I think it is due to the need to survive. When confronted with danger we go into one of the three (f) s mode. We either fight flight or freeze .
The key point is the speed our limbic brain jumps into one of these states . The same occurs when we are confronted with new experience ,thought, action or feeling. We do not know if this will be risk to our survival so we jump on our first impression
The other influence that affects our decision about what to believe is associated familiarity If the new experience can be associated with a previous one we regard this as safe territory that can help us to handle to dangers associated with uncertainty .
Peter Bull