Know Thyself.

There are those conspiracy theorists out there who posit about the world and who's out to get them and then there's the milder version of sociologist (me) who thrives on understanding why people do what they do.

I'm still trying to understand why I do what I do, so the intrigue into human behavior has a personal investment.  Question of the day is how can an off-the-cuff judgement hold as much weight as a long thought-out one? 

The book (see above) by Gladwell gives the example of speed dating.  Never tried it before, but actually doesn't sound half-bad upon description.  Turns out that some speed daters describe totally different people than the ones they end up being attracted to on these experiences.  After the experience, when asked again, the speed daters describe people more closely resembling the person they just met.  And after a month, they revert back to their original criteria.  Interesting.  So what is it that we are really attracted to?  Our conscious ideal might be saying something different than what we actually feel.  But there's validity in both.

It's difficult to get behind the locked door and explain our choices that just 'feel right.'  I'm not just talking dating here.  When someone holds up a design for me, I can pretty easily tell you which one I jive with.  And because I've been trained in art mumbo jumbo I can also tell you why.  For other things, I don't have an easy time at 'why.'  Why I don't like a certain person...I don't know why, just because.

Alright, that's enough thinking for now.