I do not distinguish by the eye, but by the mind, which is the proper judge of the man.

Appearance arrives first and carries far more weight than it deserves. Height, clothing, accent and bearing all get read as evidence of quality within seconds, long before anything has been said, and the reading is remarkably hard to overwrite afterwards. What actually predicts anything is how a person thinks and what they do when it costs them something. Both take longer to observe, which is exactly why the shortcut wins.

Delay your verdict on someone by one deliberate conversation. Ask them about something difficult and listen to how they reason. You will find you have been carrying an opinion formed almost entirely from the first four seconds.