Before we begin today's All in the Mind, let me tell you about another podcast that may interest

you. If you've been spending your life knee-deep in reality and the news is getting too much,

you can check out another RN podcast that's more about the spiritual side of life. It's called

Soul Search and it's presented by the award-winning author and historian Meredith Lake. It's called Soul Search and it's presented by the award-winning author and historian

Meredith Lake. It's full of interesting people talking about surprising things and you can find

it wherever you normally get your podcasts.

Hi, it's all in the mind on RN. I'm Lynne Malcolm. When you spot a stranger and you're

about to interact with them for the first time, how do you decide whether you can trust them or not?

Within just a fraction of a second, we form opinions about how trustworthy someone is, along with many other

judgments, and that's well before we've even had a chance to interact with them. These assessments

are often inaccurate, but they can have a huge impact on how we treat people. So how exactly

do our brains form these snap judgments?

Well today on All In the Mind, science reporter Carl Smith is examining the subtle processing

at work in this single moment.

We've all experienced this scenario, probably multiple times every day.

You clock a stranger in a shop or walking down the street,

and before we've even noticed we've done this, we've formed several judgments about them.

These judgments are often subconscious, but they shape our behaviour,

whether we look up and smile or cross the street.

And one of the core judgments we make is whether or not to trust someone.

You don't have many cues in this very first moment, right? You basically only have what you see.

And the first thing you look at when you meet another person is usually

...