Avoiding stupid decisions

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No doubt this is unwelcome news, but your brain is riddled with biases that can lead to unclear thinking and poor decisions. Intentional, systematic decision-making processes can reduce their influence.

We are faced with countless decisions every day. To help us make sense of the world and make rapid decisions, our brains evolved a wide range of biases and mental shortcuts called heuristics.

Most of the time, these shortcuts serve us well. Other times, they can lead us to make some really dumb decisions. No one is immune to their effects, however smart or accomplished we might be.

Our biases operate at a speed faster than thought. Their stealth can cause us to be tricked in all manner of ways, such as failing to see our mistakes or being subtly influenced to spend more money.

While we can’t eliminate these biases – and we probably wouldn’t want to, anyway – we can reduce their potential negative impacts by using a systematic method for slowing down and making informed decisions.

Read the full transcript here:
https://projectindra.org/apotheosis-podcast/episode-45-avoiding-stupid-decisions