MENTAL MODELS
3 Ways You Can Improve Your Decision Making
A Short Introduction to the Flaws in Our Thinking
Have you ever wondered how the best thinkers in the world make decisions? There’s something that separates us from them when it comes to understanding life’s biggest problems.
If you truly understand the reality of a situation, it is easier to figure out the answers, what to do or what not to do.
Yet, our understanding is limited to the lenses under which we view a problem.
So how do we break free from that?
Well, here’s the problem: you can’t truly understand a system when you are a part of it.
Here’s a quote that illustrates this phenomenon:
“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”
— David Foster Wallace, “This Is Water” (2005 Kenyon College commencement speech)
The 3 Failures of Understanding Reality:
1. Perspective
It’s easier to see a problem when you’re on the outside — and your physiological state plays a big part in it.
Psychologist Dennis R. Proffitt of the University of Virginia conducted an experiment where subjects stood at the top of a hill on either a skateboard or a wooden box the height of the skateboard. The subjects were then asked to look down from the top and judge the gradient of the hill — they were also asked how scared they’d be to go down from where they were.
The result? The fearful subjects on the skateboards judged the hill to be way steeper than the ones standing on the box.¹
I want you to imagine that you are standing at a distance from the hill, I’d say that you’d be able to suggest a more accurate gradient than those who were standing at the top.
Why? Because you have a better perspective of the whole system.
2. Ego
When you believe in something enough no amount of convincing will let you let go of it.
I’m not blaming you, it’s practically wired into your DNA — we resist change. But here’s the problem, what if you’re wrong? When you hold on to beliefs too tightly, it stops you from engaging with better ideas and you rob yourself of growth. Imagine you grew up with beliefs that were passed down from your parents/friends/community and one day I told you that you were wrong and here’s why.
You really think you’re going to tell me ‘Oh wow, that’s so interesting! I’m totally going to just abandon long held treasured beliefs because you said so.’ — said no one ever.
Here’s another way of looking at it, you want to improve your ideas by putting them out in public. What gets in the way of you doing this?
Your ego not wanting to engage in the potential criticism you’ll get.
But that’s what helps grow your thinking; the feedback loops you open yourself to, by being exposed to other ideas. The flip slide? You live sheltered by your ignorance.
3. Distance
The further you are from the results of your decisions, the easier it is to hold on to your current beliefs.
Let’s say you touch a hot stove, your hand retracts back instantly — you learnt the lesson that comes with touching stoves. Now whenever you see a stove you’re cautious before touching it. You’ve now created a mental abstraction that tells you to be careful before handling objects that could be hot.
That was an example of being close to the consequences of your decision, now what happens when you’re further away?
Let’s say you’re in a large organisation. You give orders and directions to other members who then carry out your decisions. They’re on the front line and they will deal firsthand with the repercussions if you made the wrong call.
The problem is that it’s not you that deals with the immediate consequences so you close yourself from that learning experience since you are physically further away from the outcomes. You can apply this model to any scenario.
Since you are further away from the results of your choices your perspective is skewed and your ego stops you from accepting the reality as it does not directly affect you. It means that you are not in a position to update your ideas and beliefs.
Conclusion
These are the common flaws in decision making, being aware of them can set you free from making choices that lead to long term suffering. You will be better equipped to understand the reality of any situation.
FOOTNOTES
- The Roles of Altitude and Fear in the Perception of Height. J. K. Stefanucci and D. R. Proffitt in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol. 35, pages 424–439; 2009.
