Gut Decisions

It's time to look at how we make decisions and the consequences of our decisions

I find it troubling how I come to some decisions in my life. 

When I am in the thick of an issue that needs a decision, I will often go with what “feels right.” It is only upon sober reflection that I see how I manipulated my interpretation of key facts to justify what my gut was telling me. 

I am not the only one. More and more social scientific research points to this reality—we tend to make decisions based on how we feel at the time. Facts, it seems, can get in the way of an intense feeling and so we manipulate them to match up with our sense of what is right. I won’t debate the merits of this methodology here, but I think it is interesting to consider the role of feelings in the rise of the populist movement around the globe and how large groups of people make collective decisions. 

I was recently in the United States and had the chance to visit with some folks from Phoenix, Arizona. The conversation turned to the US election and how Trump came to be elected. It was entertaining to hear the arguments. Whether they were for or against Trump, each person used largely emotional arguments to justify their point of view. They would throw in some “facts” here and there for support, but these facts seemed awfully convenient to their position and more of an afterthought than anything else.

Here in Alberta we saw a change in government from the PCs to the NDP. If you ask people why they voted NDP you will get a wide range of reasons, some of which are well thought out. But there is one reason in particular that seems common—people were angry at the PCs and wanted to teach them a lesson. I completely understand the temptation to teach lessons when I feel like I have been wronged. But I also know that my rational decision making skills are sharply diminished when in the grip of anger.

How are collectives to make good decisions, knowing that emotions can rule the day over sound arguments? This is a tricky question and I don’t know that we will find a good answer. Or perhaps there is no problem at all and following your gut is a perfectly fine way to make decisions in a chaotic world. But I do think it is important for each of us as individuals to pause and ask the question, how am I making my decisions and will I be okay with the consequences? We owe it to each other to do this. It is part of being a responsible decision maker within a collective.