Tell me how to make good decisions
April 18, 2017 6:44 AM Subscribe
The British PM has just called a general election, so it is now Decision Making Time for millions of British people. Please direct me to resources about:
1) How to ensure you are making a good decision / as rational a decision as possible
2) Information about cognitive biases and the kind of biases which might lead people to make Bad Decision in a vote like this
Thank you!
This is not to help me make a good decision (I am perfectly rational and always make excellent decisions, obviously), it is more so that I can provide information to followers of a blog about how to approach this kind of decision.
(The bit about me being perfectly rational was sarcastic, in case somebody didn't get that and wants to write an essay about it.)
This is not to help me make a good decision (I am perfectly rational and always make excellent decisions, obviously), it is more so that I can provide information to followers of a blog about how to approach this kind of decision.
(The bit about me being perfectly rational was sarcastic, in case somebody didn't get that and wants to write an essay about it.)
Best answer: Clearer Thinking has a bunch of good quiz-style content on rationality and decision-making, plus some stuff on common biases/misconceptions which might be generally helpful.
The Political Compass is a tool that asks pertinent questions and spits you out on a quadrant-style political map (I think you can then use it to compare where the major parties you could potentially vote for sit). And who should you vote for-style tools that are more specific to the actual political event at hand will probably get updated for this election in the next week or so.
For me one of the biggest pitfalls with British politics is that what the main parties mean/stand for is all so ingrained culturally that it feels like a lot of people vote "how they've always voted" (or, worse, how their dad or someone who had a big impact on them always voted) without thinking about what they actually care about or what the parties' policies right now actually are. So I think the more you can get people to probe into what they actually care about and marry that up to what's on offer in terms of election promises this time around, the better (in theory).
Plus anything sensible on media literacy, verifying your sources, understanding that a lot of media is for-profit and the people who are profiting directly from your eyeball attention have an agenda of their own and it's not necessarily nice or altruistic - this was one of the better things I read during US election time last year, but there are probably other/better/UK-specific resources out there.
posted by terretu at 8:29 AM on April 18, 2017
The Political Compass is a tool that asks pertinent questions and spits you out on a quadrant-style political map (I think you can then use it to compare where the major parties you could potentially vote for sit). And who should you vote for-style tools that are more specific to the actual political event at hand will probably get updated for this election in the next week or so.
For me one of the biggest pitfalls with British politics is that what the main parties mean/stand for is all so ingrained culturally that it feels like a lot of people vote "how they've always voted" (or, worse, how their dad or someone who had a big impact on them always voted) without thinking about what they actually care about or what the parties' policies right now actually are. So I think the more you can get people to probe into what they actually care about and marry that up to what's on offer in terms of election promises this time around, the better (in theory).
Plus anything sensible on media literacy, verifying your sources, understanding that a lot of media is for-profit and the people who are profiting directly from your eyeball attention have an agenda of their own and it's not necessarily nice or altruistic - this was one of the better things I read during US election time last year, but there are probably other/better/UK-specific resources out there.
posted by terretu at 8:29 AM on April 18, 2017
(There is also the cognitive bias cheat sheet, similar to the various lists of cognitive bias out there but a bit more digestible.)
posted by terretu at 8:30 AM on April 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by terretu at 8:30 AM on April 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: There is very much a "good decision" that serves your happiness more than a "bad decision".
I think there are simple ways to approach decision making that will address your question, but most of the materials I know of are very long and have many parts. The Wikipedia cognitive biases list, as you probably know, has a lot of parts. [edit - I haven't looked at the comments above.]
It's tempting to advocate that you avoid using emotions to make decisions, but I strongly disagree with that kind of blanket statement. For one thing, emotions are the whole reason we want to make good decisions. If we didn't feel anything, then good decisions wouldn't matter at all. For another thing, while it is very possible to avoid being controlled entirely by strong, self-destructive emotional reactions, it's important to recognize that we can't ever be completely without bias or emotions.
I hope that I or someone else can find a better answer for you, but here's a start:
Don't rely on your "gut"; think through what you want to happen, and what's needed to lead to that happening.
Make a list of qualities that a good decision or candidate would have -- an actual list, typed up. Try to asses how important each quality is.
Then look at each candidate or possible solution, and write down how they measure in each quality, to the best of your knowledge.
Then, look at the total list for each candidate. If you want, you can give each candidate a score for each attribute, then add up the scores for each candidate. You now have a clear way to frame your decision: you can choose the highest scoring candidate.
Going through this process for each candidate will probably clarify your thoughts and feelings along the way. You might come up with additional attributes, or you might find yourself liking or disliking candidates without being able to connect that to attributes. That's fine, but figure out why you are reacting that way. If you can express it in words that would be very helpful.
I think of it as essentially a hiring process. You, and everyone else, are hiring someone to do a job. There are a lot of resources out there about making hiring decisions objectively (although a lot of companies ignore this aspect of hiring, use gut reactions/first impressions to hire people, and frequently make terrible mistakes). Here's one article that I think could easily apply. You can search for more: objective hiring process
posted by amtho at 9:12 AM on April 18, 2017
I think there are simple ways to approach decision making that will address your question, but most of the materials I know of are very long and have many parts. The Wikipedia cognitive biases list, as you probably know, has a lot of parts. [edit - I haven't looked at the comments above.]
It's tempting to advocate that you avoid using emotions to make decisions, but I strongly disagree with that kind of blanket statement. For one thing, emotions are the whole reason we want to make good decisions. If we didn't feel anything, then good decisions wouldn't matter at all. For another thing, while it is very possible to avoid being controlled entirely by strong, self-destructive emotional reactions, it's important to recognize that we can't ever be completely without bias or emotions.
I hope that I or someone else can find a better answer for you, but here's a start:
Don't rely on your "gut"; think through what you want to happen, and what's needed to lead to that happening.
Make a list of qualities that a good decision or candidate would have -- an actual list, typed up. Try to asses how important each quality is.
Then look at each candidate or possible solution, and write down how they measure in each quality, to the best of your knowledge.
Then, look at the total list for each candidate. If you want, you can give each candidate a score for each attribute, then add up the scores for each candidate. You now have a clear way to frame your decision: you can choose the highest scoring candidate.
Going through this process for each candidate will probably clarify your thoughts and feelings along the way. You might come up with additional attributes, or you might find yourself liking or disliking candidates without being able to connect that to attributes. That's fine, but figure out why you are reacting that way. If you can express it in words that would be very helpful.
I think of it as essentially a hiring process. You, and everyone else, are hiring someone to do a job. There are a lot of resources out there about making hiring decisions objectively (although a lot of companies ignore this aspect of hiring, use gut reactions/first impressions to hire people, and frequently make terrible mistakes). Here's one article that I think could easily apply. You can search for more: objective hiring process
posted by amtho at 9:12 AM on April 18, 2017
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posted by Ted Maul at 7:05 AM on April 18, 2017 [2 favorites]