Have you ever taken a dislike to someone just because of their face?

Question

There's a guy who gets the same bus as me every day and I can't stand his face. I don't know the guy, I've never even heard hom speak but I can't stand him. Why is my brain doing this? Is it some kind of primeval instinct kicking in?

Answer 1

Yes, it's instrinct. The Michael Jackson experiment proved it.

Answer 2

Its down to a behaviour called 'pattern recognition'
Much of our automatic thinking and responses happen outside of our control because of pattern recognition. Its how we organise info and make sense of the world. We start using it as very small babies, when the shape of a circle with 2 dots is how we see a face, and we gradaully become more sophisticated and adept and can recognise different faces.
We categorise stuff. (or 'pigeonhole' it.) If we didn't do this then we'd have no sane way to organise info and would have to learn everything new from scratch. We'd each have an arbitary system of storing and retrieving info and that would make communication extremely difficult.
If you were an animal, you'd react badly to this blokes face, and you might act out based on how you feel about his face.
But you're not any animal, you're a human, and human thinking can kick in. You can relise that you've never met him before, and modify your behaviour.
The fact is that his features trigger a memory that you can;t consciously remember. The info is stored in the back of your mind and he's reminding you of a person or situation that you dislike.
It is a mixture of instinct and learning. The instinct is the bit that makes you do this in the first place, the behaviour is hard wired into your brain. The learning is that you've learned to dislike this particular arrangement of features. And the top level of learning - the one we lose fastest in an emergency - is culture. You've learned that your reaction is considered rude and unreasonable, so you attempt to understand it.
You can be polite to him and at the same time not trust him. I don't completely agree with previous posters about going with your gut instinct. Women sometimes feel drawn towards certain men who turn out to be disastrous. It turns out they are predators who work hard on concealing their motives and gaining your trust. So gut feeling isn't foolproof.

Answer 3

when you see a person and instantly dislike them it is an instinct and i have always obeyed my instincts. the thing about it is that your senses are constantly taking in information and the brain analyzes that information. but here lies the problem. there is an old saying that goes only believe half of what your hear and none of what you see. the reason behind this saying is because your eyes will fool you. what you see and what your brain tells you that you see are 2 different things. the gut feeling that you get is from all the hidden clues about another person that your eyes have registered and the brain has computed but has not interpreted when it tells you what you are seeing, but the warning signs are still there. to understand this a little better get a psychology book and look up the section dealing with perceptions and i think you will be amazed at what you will learn about what you think that you see everyday. have you ever seen optical illusions ? this goes on everyday, all day, it is how our brain processes the unlimited input and tells us what we are seeing. trust those instincts because there is something there that the brain knows and has caused that red flag to be raised.

Answer 4

First impressions count for a lot in human society but no, I don't think so. I go by personality rather than looks. but most people DO go by looks and yes, it's a kind of instinct thing I think. Maybe because I know I'm no oil painting, I go more by personality with others and hope others do with me, although in reality people like my personlity but don't fancy me - coz if I had a penny for every time someone told me that, I'd be a millionaire by now. lol.

Answer 5

Funny enough, I have also had a similar experience.

This tall lanky guy whom I've never related with walks into the room and my gut tells me that he is a stingy and selfish fellow.

Two yeard latter I'm in a relationship with him felling hurt and angry with myself for not following my instincts.

It turned out that this guy was so stingy that he could hardly spend moneyto take care of himself. His selfishness was such that he required everyone one to do great things for him for very little in return form him.

I finally realised why he had a skinny, lanky and lean look on his face the firsttime I saw him.

Believe me. A man's outward reflectswhat he has on the inside.
The Bible says, "as a man thinkethin his heart so is he"

Answer 6

I hate EVERYONE who gets on the bus in the morning. I think it's a morning thing. And a bus thing. Although I also detest people who drive past the bus stop in 4x4s and I can't even see their faces. But if you're planning to commit violence, save it for someone who plays you their music on their mobile phone. (By the way, that guy you're talking about is actually me. I've seen you looking at me...)

Answer 7

Yes, a few years ago when I was still working I was introduced to my new Boss. I had the same initial reaction, however after I got to know him better it wasn"t just his face I disliked, it was the whole bloody lot of him. Go with your first instinct, it"s normally the correct one.

Answer 8

Easter Island

Answer 9

I know what you mean but it is nice to be proved wrong if you ever get to interact with the person. I remember when I was in my last year at school and one of the girls had an older boy come and meet her at the gates. (remember, the following is coming from a teenage me) We thought he was really ugly, greasy hair, terrible spots and a rough old bikers jacket. We would take the p1ss out of him amongst ourselves saying things like.. "Well he must have a really nice personality!" and "He must be a good lay!"
Well, I met him a couple of years later and I'm happy to say he was both!!!

Answer 10

The problem is not with the guy, the problem is with you. Your problem speaks of a narrow minded attitude that you need to get over.

You seem to have an internal set of guidelines on which to judge everyone by, when you should not be judging people at all.