Amazing thunderstorm this afternoon, maybe I'll post some pictures... anyways to the main topic.

I finished reading Blink this morning while waiting for the oven repairman to show up. It provides some intriguing insights into the power of the subconscious mind. To sum up in a very abbreviated way: your 'gut' feeling is probably right if you have enough experience in the area that the 'gut' feeling pertains to. Your subconscious mind is really good at processing the thousands of pieces of data that are constantly flying at you, cataloging them, and passing on the urgent pieces to the conscious mind for further analysis. Alot of that data, however, is absorbed and alters your psychological state without you even realizing it. You can make yourself feel happier by forcing an artificial smile for a little while. You can begin walking more slowly if a set of words unconsciously triggers thoughts of being old. You can know things without knowing why you know them. You get a sensation within the first few minutes of an encounter; your subconscious has processed the datum, decided something, and provided you with the sensation. I recommend this book as well as Freakonomics as good, intriguing reading which will, at the very least, cause you to re-examine the world around you.

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