Posted on 30 Jun, 2010 -
Why do we all think so irrationally?
Why we are more likely to make decisions based on a TV star’s life story than scientific evidence
Why job interviews are the worse way of choosing the right candidate - and why even doctors make mistakes
How to use this information to your advantage - and influence, impress and persuade everyone you meet
I’ve been reading another fascinating book this week about how crazy we humans are called Irrationality.
Written by British Professor of Psychology, Stuart Sutherland, the basic premise of the book is that while we tend to believe that human beings are generally sensible and rational, a great deal of the thinking we do is so far from rational it’s bordering on dumb and even dangerous.
Whether it’s a doctor making a diagnosis, an interviewer selecting a candidate or ourselves making decisions about the smaller or larger details of our lives… most of the judgements and choices we make are based on snap judgements, lazy thinking and irrational reasoning.
Next time you need to make a decision about who to vote for, which medical option to choose or whether you should quit your job… bear in mind some of these key points that I’ve summarised for you from the book. Oh, and they could also be very useful for sharpening your communication and persuasive skills…
Our naturally lazy thinking. One of the main forms of irrationality that human beings are subject to is what is known as the ‘availability error’. When making any kind of decision we tend to be influenced very strongly by pieces of information that are most readily available, vivid and or emotionally powerful in our minds - rather than taking time to weight up a lot of (dry) information on the subject.
Why TV is so powerful. This accounts, for example, for why the number of swimmers off the coast of California dropped dramatically after the film Jaws was screened. Or for the fact that Jane Goody being diagnosed with cervical cancer did more to increase the uptake for smear tests than any dry Government campaign ever could have done.
Whether knowingly or not we use this to our own advantage and disadvantage every day. If I want to colour a person’s view of something or somebody before I present it to them, for example, simply by using a few carefully chosen words myself to describe it or them, I can influence that person’s perception. What I have said will be the most available information they have so it will have a strong effect on their impression.
A two second window. Another aspect of the ‘availability error’ is that our brains tend to take in the first things we see or hear and make judgements on that basis. In experiments, for example, where people were described with a list of adjectives, the subjects of the experiments were much more likely to remember the attributes that came first on a list than those that came later. Interviews are even worse - proven to be a terrible way of choosing the right person for a job because we are so easily swayed by our initial impression and the wrong factors.
How you can use this to your advantage. If you’re meeting somebody new, for example, bear in mind that your mind will probably make an opinion of that person within the first few minutes and will be reluctant to absorb any new information that might falsify that view. If you are talking to a doctor or trying to suggest a plan to another person, bear in mind that the first one or two things you tell them might almost be the only things they really absorb.
Also, if you’re writing an exam paper or doing a speech, make the first bit the best because that’s where most people will make their judgement.
Irrationality in crowds. Another form of human irrationality is our tendency to conform or go along with the crowd - even on occasions when we know it is wrong. There is a certain embarrassment, it would seem, in taking a different view from those around you - or in being seen to look or act differently from others. Simply realising how irrational this kind of sheep mentality is can be can be very liberating and may actually help us improve our self-image and feeling of self-actualisation and autonomy.
Our reluctance to accept we were wrong. Linked to conformity is our misplaced desire to remain consistent to our own decisions, judgements and beliefs. On a positive note, if we declare publicly that we are going to do something, for example (lose weight, do an evening course) then we are more likely to do it than if we kept our decision to ourselves.
More negatively, however, once we have made a decision, we will often go out of our way to justify to ourselves that the decision we have made is right - even when it might be wrong. In some cases this habit may be useful but in many it will not. Many people continue to lose money in investments or enterprises, for example, when they would have been much better off cutting their losses earlier. There’s also no point wasting your precious time sitting through a rubbish film or finishing a book because you’ve spent money on it. There are many other decisions we all make that if we could bite the bullet and revoke then we could move forward better.
Another key form of irrational thinking (or indeed lack of thinking) covered in the book is our habit of unthinkingly obeying - especially if the command comes from a figure of authority. While it is normally not a bad idea to follow the instructions of those who know more about something than we do, this is not always the case. Those who question the views of people in authority have more control over their lives and sometimes realise that the instruction was wrong. The most obvious example coming from the atrocities committed by otherwise good German people during the Second World War
Emotion is another thing that clouds our ability to think rationally. If we are in a really good mood, for example, we are much more likely to judge everything in a more positive light. If we are in a low mood we are more likely to see things in a poor light. It is a good idea, therefore, not to make important decisions when you are feeling either high or low but rather wait ‘till you are feeling more neutral.
Most people, says Sutherland, even lead their whole lives in an irrational manner. The rational way of going forward into the next part of our lives would be to think about our goals, make a list of priorities and take action and make decisions accordingly. Instead, however, we “act spontaneously, and although this may be endearing or irritating depending on one’s viewpoint, it can lead to irrational acts: that is to say, had they thought before acting, they might have acted in a way more likely to achieve their ends.”
The place where you work runs on irrational thinking too. One final idea that I found fascinating was how irrational the whole structure of both public and private organisations and companies tend to be. Rather than being structured in ways that are best for the country or the company’s success, they tend to encourage self-serving and selfish behaviour in the people who work to the detriment of the organisation.
In the public sector, for example, huge amounts of tax payers money are spent by individuals who want to increase the size of their own departments for totally personal ends. It is a system that actually encourages wastefulness, unchecked expenditure and megalomania…
All very interesting food for thought. But will we actually take any of it in and start making better decisions and spending more time deliberating?
Stuart Sutherland reckons probably not!
