Judge a book by it’s cover?

Ancient brain circuits light up so we can judge people on first impressions – scientists have recorded the gentle flicker of activity that lights up the brain when we form our first impressions of people. The study shows how age-old brain circuitry that evolved to make snap decisions on the importance of objects in the environment is now used in social situations.  Wow.  There is a lot of evidence to show how we made instance decisions and how we can trust these.  I thoroughly recommend Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
which is very easy to read, entertaining and informative.