There are two basic stances for decision making most commonly demonstrated. Some have the intuitive element of their decision making masked by what people expect of someone who is successful. Steve Jobs would be a big example. He never denied it, but because of what people expect, people overlooked it. Optimizers with proper temperance are actually excellent long term decision makers. They have “vision” as it’s often said.

David Lynch says all his ideas come to him when he meditates. That would be an example of intuitive judgement and a fairly clear example. The other decision making style is called satisficing, and that’s not a typo. A satisficer accepts the first decision that fits a narrowly defined requirement, and then acts on that often leading to later having to make a new divergent decision, or having to reverse the consequences of whatever decision they originally made.

Impulsive? No, not impulsive, that is closer to intuitive judgement than this is. The satisficer follows a model of, when you need to change a light bulb, any light bulb will do.

Hasty perhaps? Hasty from one point of view, expedient from another.

So most people tend to fall into one category or the other, and each has its own strength and weaknesses. I myself run more closely to the satisficer than the optimizer. What about you folks?

Do people use more than one as they navigate thru life? Oh, indeed they do, and will switch based on frame of mind or just simple necessity.

I tend to worry about long term so optimizer? Yes, that would be optimizer. And well, that leaves us with a question. Since bounded rationality seems pretty much a fact of life, and each of these strategies held to its extreme has potentially negative consequences, how would we find the middle path for ourselves?

Use a computer? That tends to lead to the outcome that is today’s topic of analysis paralysis. Everyone has a threshold beyond which information ceases to be anything other than a burden.

I saw that a lot in business decisions, very burdened there. As in business so in life, or as the hermetics say, as above, so below.

It is a burden when a deadline is imposed, like saying I have to choose NOW or get nothing at all. Well, reality can make that decision for you. It doesn’t take a human being to impose that.

Often nothing is just what I wanted in the first place. Indeed a null outcome is often itself an asset.

Doing nothing is still making a decision. It is yes, but making the do nothing decision compulsively serves only to undermine people’s well-being. Do nothing should be a conscious choice, not an accidental consequence, or as it’s been said before, life waits for no one.

I also get annoyed when someone asks me to choose and I do and then they complain about my choice instead of sharing their opinion with me. Indeed, I feel that is obnoxious.

I like compromising, so I’m happy to do that for someone if they would allow me to. I do often ask my wife to make a choice, but that is because I am honestly open to any choice she makes, otherwise I offer her my opinion from square one.

Is there a way to get the other person to be more open and to say what they wish? That is complex enough to be its own topic I’m afraid, but yes there is a way.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~