important decisions : Type of decision

Type of decisionSometimes we make decisions to think, long and hard, but sometimes we make decisions, just because it feels good. Call it a hunch, intuition or instinct, what they all have in common is that we do not know why we feel what we do, but it can feel so convincing, that drives us to action. The question is, when we listen to our good and decisions based on something that we can not explain? And if you think to stop?

A first approach to this question would be to ask if the intestines are good rational sense, but we can not have an explicit rationale for it. Maybe some instincts, we unconsciously react to certain stimuli in our environment. For example, sometimes people feel when they are in danger, without knowing exactly why they think. They come to feel a strange sense of apprehension. There may be good reasons for this feeling, but these reasons are hidden from consciousness. From an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense that we see a mechanism subconsciously and react to stimuli in our environment have. Conscious Consulting is a slow and complicated at times, and we must be able to act quickly in many situations, especially when we are in danger. Therefore, it seems fair to say that at least some intuitions are reliable and that we are to listen to those. Of course you can also feel a bit scared because of the fear, stress or general paranoia. That we feel in danger, does not mean that we are.

But how do you see the difference? Is there a reliable way to distinguish the intuitions of the other feelings that we have? Certainty that we believe, does not seem to be a good indicator. You just think of all the players who lose, think, because they are sure that they, on the basis of no more than to win meaningful. Things seem a little different when we. Us on the gut feeling of experts in a particular field Sexers Take chicken, for example! Sexing a chicken is someone whose job it is to sort newborn male female chickens. Without the necessary training, tell a male from a female chicken is a very difficult thing to do. Nobody has obvious functions, the other not. But chicken sexes professionals are able to tell the men and women in a quick glance. What's really interesting is that the chicken sexes can not explain how they know the difference, simply. They developed a sense. You might wonder how chicken sexes never be able to train someone to do the work if they can not explain how they know the difference.

Interestingly, if you learn how to do this, it suffices to a professional to work until you develop consult also the instinct. With a little time and effort, you can begin to see the difference, but probably not in a position to say what is the difference either. You just have to know instinctively. For chickens Sexer suggests two things: the instincts of specialist training are needed reliable than natural instincts, and it is possible, your intestines spirit in a way that bypasses the rational part of the train. This is really fascinating, but unfortunately did not help us with the big question is whether the common intuitions are legitimate. Some people are wary of courage and I think when it comes to important decisions in life, you must carefully weigh the pros and cons, and then make a rational decision and deliberate. Why do you trust to feel your fate, mysterious, and potentially untrustworthy? Of course, one obvious exception of the decision to marry. Most people are not carefully weigh the pros and cons of marriage, or if they do, they do not decide on this basis. Even if they take some time to understand what you need to do is to calculate mathematical probabilities of future happiness, is to what feels good to hear. Aside from this example because the love is clearly a matter of the heart not the head.

What is less emotionally charged decisions, should you invest money? You have to trust your instincts to make investment decisions, or is it a case for research, do a little math, and then decide? At first glance it may seem that this is a clear case to make different calculations carefully before investing is. But what if the people who trusted his instincts better investment opportunities than those who were trying to make a rational and informed choice? Some surveys suggest that this surprising instinct is often the case. The reason is that we are too much information and the need for a quick and easy way to cut through all the noise can be overcome. If there are many variables to consider, think for themselves everything is a monumental task, so we need another way to select the best strategy. And that's where the gut Our guest this week, psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer, Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, is an expert on intuition. Much of his work focuses on simple heuristics-based rules that we use for decisions, large and small. He is the author of Intuition: The Intelligence of the Unconscious (2008), the simple heuristics that make us smart (2000), and many other books.

I'm excited to get to the answers to the following questions: How can we know that our instincts are reliable? Is there a way to distinguish the irrational feelings of trust intuitions and prejudices? And what gut experts? They are fundamentally different from common gut feeling? We must be willing to trust the instincts of an expert when the expert to provide any explanation for it? What should the role of intuitive thinking in order to make important decisions? And how we can train to have better instincts?

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