The flicflac (mind)

Did you ever experience what I call a flicflac? Of course! But how do you call it?

flicflac

When your mind, in trying to find your personal answer to a controversial question, quickly changes back and forth between two or more options.

I call it “flicflac” until I find a better name for it. I also thought about calling it “mind toggle”. My final choice was inspired by this article on Wikipedia.

“Which car should we buy? The Citroen or the Mazda?” I remember how my wife and I have been doing flicflac about this question back in 2019 before finally deciding for the Mazda. We had been looking for a new car to buy for several weeks. Actually there were a few more options that made it into this last phase before our decision. And I remember how, when talking to the respective sellers, I honestly believed that their car was about to win the race. Salesmen, especially those who sell bigger objects like cars or real estate, know this effect well. Even your signature on the contract is only almost final when legal regulations sometimes allow for a period of changing your mind after the deal.

A flicflac can be more or less visible. Sometimes it happens only in your own brain, and nobody will ever know that you were about to make a completely different choice. In other situations, especially in group decisions, the word flicflac might be useful for describing what happened.

Sometimes the one who does a flicflac is being frowned upon or even accused to be a traitor. But I think that flickflacs are a normal part of life. There is nothing wrong with having them. No need to feel ashamed. And if others are irritated, this doesn’t mean that you made something wrong. It is rather these others who are wrong in accusing you.

A flicflac indicates that the question itself is based on insufficient understanding or uncomplete knowledge.