Are your decisions flawed?

 
On average, as an adult, we make approximately 35,000 decisions every day and a significant portion of these decisions go unnoticed, or are insignificant. That number can seem overwhelming and our mind needs to be able to assist in managing the vast volume of decisions that are made in a way that is efficient but balanced with the logical reasoning required for more important decisions. Daniel Kahneman in his book, Thinking Fast and Slow, describes this as 

System 1 – the decisions you make that are “Fast, instinctive and emotional” and 

Systems 2 is slower, deliberate and more logical

 
Let me explain this in an example

If a bat and Ball Costs $1.10 and the bat is $1.00 more than the ball what does the ball Cost?

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10 cents right? 
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No that’s not right this is your System 1 taking control and getting you into trouble, it is lazy and instinctive and thinks it knows the answer, doesn’t want to waste time and wants to move on to the next challenge. 

The bat is $1.00 and the ball is $0.10!

If you activate your system 2 thinking you would realise relatively quickly one of these two options

• If the ball is $0.10 that bat is $1.00 more so the bat cost $1.10. Thus the bat and ball costs $1.20 
• If the ball is $0.10 that bat is $1.00 so the difference between the bat and ball is only $0.90

This can’t be right!
 

What is the Answer?

The ball costs $0.05 and the bat costs $1.05 

Final thought

We need to be aware of the way in which we make decisions, examples such as this shows a rather comical view of the problem when we rush into judgement because we think we know what the answer should be. Our unconscious Bias takes control and tries to make it easier and It doesn’t get it right all the time. 

I am not saying that every possible decision you make needs to be slow, considered and deliberate as per system 2 but when on your maths test, evaluating the outputs of a predictive model, making an investment decision or other major decision, take the time you need to make the right decision and be aware of how your system 1 can get you into trouble.

Have you experienced your system 1 getting you into trouble?