It really depends. Some people have the ability to judge a person from first sight with a high percentage of being right. But I do believe most people cannot do this. Anyway, as the other two already said, I as well do believe that it is really important. We people have some instincts you should not underestimate. They can sometimes save you from harm. But, as Tiago already answered, it is not definetily always.
I remember of having an ex-collegue, who told me she was together with someone for 6 years. Then she found out he didn't wanted to have children while she wanted. She told me, if she would had knew this in the beginning, she wouldn't had been together a single minute with this person. But in this way, she wasted 6 years of life for nothing. Another ex-collegue was together with someone but broke the relationship and then he showed his real face. He began to stalk her and even sent death threats to her. Those are a few things you cannot see on first sight, but otherwise you should trust your first sight feelings. If you have the ability, you can already consider a person very close to the truth at first sight and it can help you very much to make the right decisions.