Less (Information) Is More

I don't understand those who "satisficed" in this article. If your kid woke up in the middle of the night wheezing and short of breath...why would you drive 60 minutes to find a doctor who will listen to you? I understand that parents want to be heard, but come on, 20 minutes to get a doctor vs. 60 for something that is more serious...now if a kid had a blister or something, then yeah, drive the extra 40 minutes to satisfy your need

Who cares.....it's just another way of speeding things up, like isn't fast enough now. I enjoy sorting thru different thoughts to make a good and rational decision..........

I understand parents want to be heard when dealing with their kids and their health...but I don't understand why they would wait 40 minutes longer to come in contact with a doctor who will listen to them when their child is wheezing as it is...shouldn't the child be treated as soon as possible in this situation? Everything is just poppycock...when your kid didn't wake up in the middle of the night wheezing, then go to the other doctor

In my opinion, Mr. Gigerenzer's doctrine is just another case of harmonizing with the mantra of today's adult generation . . . "Do what FEELS right". The advantage of moral algebra is that it creates an opportunity to identify and take note of potential concerns that one might not consider if they quickly judge from the gut. Increasing divorce rates, single person families and runaway credit debt are just part of the testimony to what happens when gut rules!

I totaly agree with this principal. I have use it successfully for over twenty years in the process of being pro-active instead of re-active with a success rate of over 90%. Six sigma and other methods that advertise to make decisions based on data only will need to be re-thought.

Wasn't this discussed in--
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell ?

Wasn't this idea discussed in
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Outstanding comments by the author -

Only problem with either method: "WAG" (wild-ass-guess or hunch) vs. "SWAG" (scientific-wild-ass-guess or pro/con list) is in the end - what do you choose?

I remember when Richard Nixon used to descibe his pro/con lists and always came up with the wrong answer - but was correct from his own point of view. Those pro/con lists are pure BS because they can be weighted or elaborated on ad infinitum to force the answer to the unconscious desire.

In medicine we used to develop long lists of symptom causes - called a "differential diagnosis." It was pedantic and appeared meticulous and thorough - until someone pointed out that a long differential diagnosis (list) comprised one CORRECT answer and a whole lot of WRONG answers.

Stephen M. Garramone, MD

Crap. Be prepared to make more big mistakes in business with this approach. Only exlude data out of necessity in business. Many factors that impact outputs are confounded with others and impact others inversely, so not understanding what factors impact what outputs is a great way to make bad decisions. Try reading "Evidence-Based Management" for an alternative point of view.

based on the information provided here in this article, I don't see it as being a "gut" decision. Based on the information they picked what was most important to them and ignored the rest. Gut feeling would be "I don't know why but I went with the choice A" Only difference is the others gaven an equal weight to all the available information.

i usually bat .750 this way. it's the other 25 percent that really burns. sometimes u really need all the data, period.

The fantastic, unique, human quality we have called emotion plays an enormous role in our decision making process. Therefore, Until we can replicate human emotion, mental algebra, super computers and artificial inteligence will be no match for the human mind when it comes to making decisions.

I'm 56 years young and I've known this concept for a very long time. I think I had the ability as a kid but I didn't have enough faith in it to use it much. I use it and teach it to my kids now. Age has honed it for me.

Heck, even Einstein used thought experiments over number crunching if possible. The numbers just backed up the theories...

i dislike making decisions that involve so much info that i get overwhelmed. however if there is a negative that is an unknown, you could regret that choice. with that said, i myself decision make this way anyway and usually bat 750.

Our unique human emotionsplay a big part in our decision making processes. Therefore, mental algebra, super computers and artificial intelligence are no match for the human mind when it comes to make decisions. It's that simple.

Didn't Paul Meehl settle this 50 years ago?

Didn't Paul Meehl settle this 50 years ago?