Have You Judged a Book By Its Cover?

Most of us have been guilty at some stage of judging a book by its cover. But don’t feel bad. The reason why we make very quick decisions on something or somebody is instinctive, based on protecting ourselves. Interestingly, we make these decisions both on people and things. For example, if you see a 2 door red sports car you would assume it goes fast, based on its appearance. This may not necessarily be the case; the Ford Capri is a good example of this. It looked sporty, but couldn’t pull the skin off rice custard!!

And just an aside. I’m not sure if this saying is quite right. I have many times judged and bought a book by its cover. Why else would they spend so much time and money engaging illustrators and graphic designers if the book cover wasn’t important? Or is the cover design simply a devious ploy to catch our eye and has nothing to do with what the book is about? Is this where the expression comes from?

My ramble has been inspired by the TV show, Britain’s Got Talent. If you are not one of the 40 million people worldwide who hasn’t seen this audition, click here now. You’ll laugh, smile and may even cry and will probably feel guilty about judging a book by its cover.