Flinches are an essential part of our thought process, and also an important part of rationality. They appear when we are presented with an idea, and they are difficult to first detect. Even more difficult is to have the will to not follow through with them and stay objective and curious.
"Chocolate bars dipped in honey are super yummy!" Alice said. "Sounds gross," my mind says (flinch!).
Here, I experienced non-evidential influence - hostility to Alice's idea - because it's something I've never tried before. It's also an idea that would take effort to confirm, or the motive is something along those lines. We all know about the classical "Ew I don't want to try X food!" and then we end up liking it. "It doesn't hurt to be a 'lil' irrational here". Keep in mind that choosing to be rational or irrational is in itself irrational. It leaves you prone to , and other such blunders. The flinch happens when we are first presented an idea and we quickly form an opinion on it/have a reaction to it. The opinion is often a cached thought, an emotional and 'pre-programmed' reaction which we have to notice and ignore in order for us to think rationally. Therefore flinches are often subliminal, and people often make the mistake of rationalizing it, believing that noticing the flinch is the only necessary part. Flinches are a great enemy of curiosity. Becoming aware of the flinch is the first step, and the second step is to 'act upon it' - to ignore it and test the idea with curiosity. A major part of being curious is to fight against our flinches and to obsess with the idea presented - to find its ups and downs.
Always watch over your flinches!