How You Really Make Decisions

Decision-making and Intuition

Decision-making is a component of our daily lives, and it helps us use our reasoning abilities to judge possibilities or take actions in response. Many of the decisions we make are made unconsciously, and only a few of them are deliberated about in light of the possibilities available to us. I learned a lot of new things from (BBC Horizon One); the film teaches us that decision making is built on a conflict between intuition and reasoning. Most of the decisions made by the human mind are carried out through intuition, this is quite a worrying fact, as the effectiveness and accuracy of a decision should be based on facts and logic.

Challenges of Logic in Decision-Making

However, logic requires much time and attention in reasoning out different bits of facts and associated knowledge necessary to make the decision, therefore, many individuals are lazy to put in this effort and take the less taxing utilization of intuition this makes them make rash decisions that are questionable. Eventually, deciding out of intuition brings about a feeling of satisfaction to have made the decision rather than satisfaction in the correctness of the decision.

The Influence of Intuition and Present Circumstances

Intuition is brought about by what is present before them and what they can associate it with the current environment, this is dependent on some irrational factors such as emotions that are not reflective to logic. Such brings about the conclusion that many decisions are led by the present circumstance which makes one not to consider the reality of the current conditions. Thus, one becomes blind to other considerations in the same environment that they do not see to be concerned with the present matter which is also known as intentional blinders. It is illustrated in the case when the police officer chasing the murder suspect did not notice the other policemen beating an individual yet the event was within his vision capacity (BBC Horizon One).

Satisfaction and Risk-Taking in Decision-Making

In reflection to the issue of satisfaction, a majority of individuals like to make the decision that reflects a win with the minimal amount of risks taken. In this case, a test that required people to choose an option of retaining a minimum amount of cash or take a chance in the flipping outcome of a coin that would lead to more money or none at all many chose the easier option.

A Rational Approach to Decision-Making

Moving forward I would prefer and most definitely utilize more of the logic capacity in making decisions rather than using the intuition bit. Such would increase my efficiency in making decisions rather than using intuition that eventually leads to a cognitive bias form of reasoning (BBC Horizon One) associated to what I feel or what I see best based on normality or experiences. Logic makes you associate facts about the current decision you are currently making, nevertheless it may take time, but the outcome will be more accurate, and this kind of reasoning is entirely deployable in a professional setting.

Utilizing Intuition and Taking Risks

However, intuition is also relevant to decision-making. It should be utilized as a building factor to logic based on facts this increases the efficiency and speed of making decisions that may not be associated with facts that are not apparent to the individual. In such instance, feelings, emotions and other observations give facts to the subject at hand; therefore the facts presented could be now utilized based on logic to make informed decisions. In addition to this, I would also indulge in risk-taking as opposed to the losing or winning outcome. Taking risks increases the chances of a greater win or more significant loss, the risk also drives me to utilize enhanced decision-making capabilities based on the high level of risk currently at hand.

References

BBC Horizon One. "How You Really Make Decisions." 13 December 2015. Youtube.