thin slicing

I'm reading a book that I love.


It's Brilliant.

In it, I've read about the concept of "thin slicing." A concept so profound and so true that until it's pointed out to you, you'd hardly realize that you do it all day every day! Thin slicing refers to the fact that when we are faced with new things, new situations, new people, and sometimes even old situations - we deduce almost immediately how to feel about it, and how to react. I love it.

Based upon the smallest and almost imperceptible things we can realize so much.

An aspect of thin slicing that I've become painfully aware of recently is the fact that the WAY you "thin slice" someone or something can often depend on external influences and factors. It's the concept that you're more likely to do well on a test when you shift your mind into a more professorial mindset, rather than the "unprepared, ignorant student" mindset. Nothing changes about your knowledge or preparedness - only your mindset. One aspect i find exceedingly interesting (and often quite obvious) is that when you surround yourself with positive influences, you're more likely to associate positivity with the world around you.

Here's a test straight from the book:

"We make connections much more quickly between pairs of ideas that are already related in our minds than we do between pairs of ideas that are unfamiliar to us. What does that mean? Let me give you an example. Below is a list of words. Tap your finger in the approrpiate column to assign each name to the category to which it belongs. Do it as quickly as you can. Don't skip over words and don't worry if you make any mistakes.

Male ------------------- Female
.............John................
.............Bob.................
..............Amy...............
.............Holly..............
.............Joan...............
.............Derek.............
............Peggy...............
............Jason..............
............Lisa..............
.............Matt...............
............Sarah...............

That was easy, right?....That was a warm up. Now let's complete an actual IAT [test]. It works like the warm-up except now I'm going to mix two entirely separate categories together. Once again, put a check mark to either the right or the left of each word in the category to which it belongs.

Male or Career-----------------Female or Family
.....................Lisa.........................
.....................Matt.........................
.....................Laundry......................
.....................Entrepreneur.................
.....................John.........................
.....................Merchant.....................
.....................Bob..........................
.....................Capitalist...................
.....................Holly........................
.....................Joan.........................
.....................Home.........................
.....................Corporation..................
.....................Siblings.....................
.....................Peggy........................
.....................Kitchen......................
.....................Derek........................

"My guess is that most of you found that a little harder, but that you were still pretty fastat putting the words into the right categories. Now try this:

Male or Family------------------Female or Career
....................Babies........................
....................Sarah........................
....................Derek........................
....................Merchant........................
....................Employment........................
....................John........................
....................Holly........................
....................Bob........................
....................Domestic........................
....................Entrepreneur........................
....................Office........................
....................Joan........................
....................Peggy........................
....................Cousins........................
....................Grandparents........................
....................Corporation........................

Did you notice the difference? This test was quite a bit harder than the one before it, wasn't it? IF you are like most people, you took a little longer...That's because most of us have much stronger mental associations between maleness and career-oriented concepts than we do between femaleness and ideas related to careers."
(If you click this link,Harvard Research, then you, too can be a part of Harvard's research regarding this theory!)

Interesting, right?

Today - i looked around my room, listening to Glen Hansard, the Beatles, jazz and other such happies, I saw 3 books on my desk next to my joy journal; "Blink," "Peter Pan," and "C.S. Lewis on Joy." I saw a painting of Brian Andreas that says "Feels like some kind of ride but it's turning out just to be life going absolutely perfectly." I saw a Beatles poster, a picture of my grandfather, my sister, my friends, and Jesus. And as i remember where I've been and who I've left pieces of myself with, I feel content.

I think I'm attracted to positivity. I think we all are- but sometimes feel guilty about it. But because of that, I almost want more of it - to be freakishly optimistic is, admittedly, a strange goal I have in sight.
And so,
I can only hope that these external factors really do help my perspective. I think that sometimes I feel them in the things i do and the ways i react. And that - well, that makes me happy.
And happiness is certainly a step in the right direction, after all.