... half-second pause. A small internal question: is this okay? Then you override it and hit send anyway. Neuroscientists who study decision-making have documented what they call somatic markers where physical signals the body generates ahead of conscious reasoning, based on prior experience with similar situations. The original research, from Antonio Damasio, was about financial risk decisions. But the broader point holds: your nervous system can flag a situation as worth pausing on before your conscious