People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
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People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
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Re: People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
#2[deleted]
Re: People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
#3> Even if two choices are equal, one might bring you more luck.
> If two gyms are equidistant from your house and you’re single and looking to meet someone, perhaps it would be wiser to join the gym that is next to a cafe or a grocery store.
If two gyms have nearly equal luck distributed across different categories, one might have more opportunity potential. If both gyms are next to a cafe or grocery store, perhaps it would be wiser to join the gym whose reviews and other online commentary, according to a semantic analysis, suggest people encounter new experiences there.
Re: People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
#4I don't think this is a paradox at all.
If an option is perceived to be significantly better, then the decision can be made quickly.
Otherwise more study is required to decide which is better, or if they are actually indistinguishable.
It's the same reason why more trials of an experiment are required to reject the null hypothesis when the effect of the experimental variable is very weak. This is analogous to considering the options in your mind until you decide the difference between them is too small to matter. That takes time!
Sometimes after deep thought, you may decide one of them is actually better, but not by very much. Obviously you could argue that time is wasted for such a small benefit, but it's not a paradox.
Introductory statistics tells us we can never prove the null hypothesis; all we can do is reject or fail to reject it. In other words, you give up on the attempt only after deciding extended study is unlikely to reject it.
Re: People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
#5Note sure what the fix to this “inefficiency” would be. Spend more time making obvious decisions? Use snap judgements on all nonobvious decisions?
Or should the headline be “People Correctly Avoid Spending Too Much Time On Obvious Decisions”?
Re: People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
#6I notice this all the time and its very frustrating to me. People fret a great deal over choices where there's many good options. Life is much better if you can recognize these situations and just pick one at random.
Re: People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
#7> Even if two choices are equal, one might bring you more luck. > If two gyms are equidistant from your house and you’re single and looking to meet someone, perhaps it would be wiser to join the gym that is next to a cafe or a grocery store. If two gyms have nearly equal luck distributed across different categories, one might have more opportunity potential . If both gyms are next to a cafe or grocery store, perhaps…
One also has to appreciate the irony of proposing such a specific and arguably convoluted solution to a problem which seems to be meant as an example of an easy problem that people spend too much time on.
Re: People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
#8I don't think this is a paradox at all. If an option is perceived to be significantly better, then the decision can be made quickly. Otherwise more study is required to decide which is better, or if they are actually indistinguishable. It's the same reason why more trials of an experiment are required to reject the null hypothesis when the effect of the experimental variable is very weak. This is analogous to conside…
It is not a paradox but it can be irrational. When the two choices have similar utility the cost of distinguishing them is high and the benefit of making the correct choice is low. There is a crossover point where it does not matter which option you choose, putting more effort into your decision can only leave you worse off, and this article claims we tend to continue putting in the effort well past that point.
Re: People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
#9Amazon used to have something waaaay down on the product page called:
"Most people buy this product after viewing this listing"
They got rid of it, presumably because people started to only buy that item. But man it's hard to chose products now.
Re: People spend too much time on decisions with equally satisfying outcomes
#10I don't think this is a paradox at all. If an option is perceived to be significantly better, then the decision can be made quickly. Otherwise more study is required to decide which is better, or if they are actually indistinguishable. It's the same reason why more trials of an experiment are required to reject the null hypothesis when the effect of the experimental variable is very weak. This is analogous to conside…
It is not a paradox but it can be irrational. When the two choices have similar utility the cost of distinguishing them is high and the benefit of making the correct choice is low. There is a crossover point where it does not matter which option you choose, putting more effort into your decision can only leave you worse off, and this article claims we tend to continue putting in the effort well past that point.
Sure, but how do you know a given decision is one of those decisions?