Blink

I started reading Malcolm Gladwell's book titled "Blink". I am fascinated by the premise of the book. His contention is that decisions that we make are oftentimes done in a "blink" (of an eye). They are decisions that happen not thru our conscious (or deliberate) thought, but thru the unconscious. I used to do massage therapy and I learned about the sympathetic and para-sympathetic nervous systems. One of them is automatic and the other one is not. I can't remember which is which. I wonder if these bodily systems are somehow connected to the conscious and unconscious mind?

On the one hand it is reassuring that most processes that happen to us are handled automatically by our unconscious mind, on the other hand it is scary to consider that a lot of our actions and choices might not be out of free will, but rather, automatic responses that our unconscious mind handle to save our conscious mind from the burden of having to weigh and deliberate options that might otherwise cause the choice or action to be delayed, to our detriment.

Just something to ponder. But I want to warn you that according to Gladwell introspection might not be that useful after all. It might just cloud our objectivity. If there is such a thing, after all.