Emotion vs. Reason
I started reading How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer a little while ago. I liked it a lot. More than Stumbling for Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. I liked it because it helped me realize how much of my decisions are based on emotion, and how it's ok. I always felt a little guilty when I felt like something was a way it was and couldn't explain it logically. Now, I realize, it's probably because I know more than I think I know, and I just can't remember how I know it. Besides this, it seems that a lot of what I listen to has drawn from many of the themes (and experiments) as there have been cameos in recent General Conference Talks (ie: michel's marshmallows, praise for "trying" not inherent "smartness", negativity bias), probably a few radiolab episodes and other random media.
I kept notes as I read the first part of the book because I kept hitting nuggets of good information that I totally agreed with:
1) "Mistakes aren't things to be discouraged. On the contrary, they should be cultivated and carefully investigated." p 51
So true. Especially in science. And life, I guess. True in life and science.
2) "One of the crucial ingredients of successful education is the ability to learn from mistakes." p 51
Good to know that I can count my education successful.
3) "in human decisions making losses loom larger than gains." loss aversion is a mental defect. "we try to postpone the pain for as long as possible, the result is more losses" in speaking of putting our money in stocks and bonds. p 77
I need to realize that just because a loss may seem like a big deal, it's a mental thing. Gains will also be a big deal, our mind just likes to dwell on the loss.
4) "negativity bias" p 81
To the human mind, bad makes a stronger impression than good, for example, as a rule of thumb in marital interactions it takes 5 kind comments to compensate for one critical comment. I read about this in The Happiness Project - it was nice to read it from the source.
Looking at #3 and #4 together, the only way to avoid loss aversion and negativity bias is to know about it, and critically realize it's what is going on.
5) "The problem with credit cards is they cause people to make stupid financial choices. They make it harder to resist temptation, so people spend money they don't have...Paying with plastic changes the way we spend money." p 85
I feel like Financial Peace University and other places that help you out of credit card debt recognize this and are making money off of it.
6) "The problem with panic is that it narrow's ones thoughts. This is known as perceptual narrowing. [snip] While automatic emotions focus on the most immediate variables, the rational brain is able to expand the list of possibilites." p 98
A reminder that your gut feeling is usually focusing on what's most important, but if you are too emotional, you'll probably miss other possibilities.
7) "People who are more rational don't perceive emotion less, they just regulate it better." p 107
Thank you. I feel personally vindicated for not being an emotional hot mess all the time over every little thing. I simply have high emotional regulation.
8) "When you encounter a problem you've never experienced before, when your dopamine neurons have no idea what to do, it's essential that you try to tune out your feelings." p 128
Again, being ruled by emotion is not always the best.
9) "It's possible to think too much." p 132
Enough said.
Near the end of the book - there's this great paragraph:
"The best decision makers don't despair. Instead, the become students of error, determined to learn from what went wrong. They think about what they could have done differently so that the next time their neurons will know what to do. This is the most astonishing thing about the human brain. It can always improve itself. Tomorrow, we can make better decisions."
I like that. I like that by relying on both reason and emotion, the best decisions can be made. I love that the principles I have been taught from very little about relying on faith or being ok with uncertainty are the things that in the end, are supposedly what help with making better decisions. That inner struggle and thinking about it, is helpful. The discomfort is ok, as long as it's confronted and used to improve information for better choices.
I love that.
I kept notes as I read the first part of the book because I kept hitting nuggets of good information that I totally agreed with:
1) "Mistakes aren't things to be discouraged. On the contrary, they should be cultivated and carefully investigated." p 51
So true. Especially in science. And life, I guess. True in life and science.
2) "One of the crucial ingredients of successful education is the ability to learn from mistakes." p 51
Good to know that I can count my education successful.
3) "in human decisions making losses loom larger than gains." loss aversion is a mental defect. "we try to postpone the pain for as long as possible, the result is more losses" in speaking of putting our money in stocks and bonds. p 77
I need to realize that just because a loss may seem like a big deal, it's a mental thing. Gains will also be a big deal, our mind just likes to dwell on the loss.
4) "negativity bias" p 81
To the human mind, bad makes a stronger impression than good, for example, as a rule of thumb in marital interactions it takes 5 kind comments to compensate for one critical comment. I read about this in The Happiness Project - it was nice to read it from the source.
Looking at #3 and #4 together, the only way to avoid loss aversion and negativity bias is to know about it, and critically realize it's what is going on.
5) "The problem with credit cards is they cause people to make stupid financial choices. They make it harder to resist temptation, so people spend money they don't have...Paying with plastic changes the way we spend money." p 85
I feel like Financial Peace University and other places that help you out of credit card debt recognize this and are making money off of it.
6) "The problem with panic is that it narrow's ones thoughts. This is known as perceptual narrowing. [snip] While automatic emotions focus on the most immediate variables, the rational brain is able to expand the list of possibilites." p 98
A reminder that your gut feeling is usually focusing on what's most important, but if you are too emotional, you'll probably miss other possibilities.
7) "People who are more rational don't perceive emotion less, they just regulate it better." p 107
Thank you. I feel personally vindicated for not being an emotional hot mess all the time over every little thing. I simply have high emotional regulation.
8) "When you encounter a problem you've never experienced before, when your dopamine neurons have no idea what to do, it's essential that you try to tune out your feelings." p 128
Again, being ruled by emotion is not always the best.
9) "It's possible to think too much." p 132
Enough said.
Near the end of the book - there's this great paragraph:
"The best decision makers don't despair. Instead, the become students of error, determined to learn from what went wrong. They think about what they could have done differently so that the next time their neurons will know what to do. This is the most astonishing thing about the human brain. It can always improve itself. Tomorrow, we can make better decisions."
I like that. I like that by relying on both reason and emotion, the best decisions can be made. I love that the principles I have been taught from very little about relying on faith or being ok with uncertainty are the things that in the end, are supposedly what help with making better decisions. That inner struggle and thinking about it, is helpful. The discomfort is ok, as long as it's confronted and used to improve information for better choices.
I love that.
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