How to Decide, On Confirmation Bias, The Minister of Loneliness, and More

Bring Ambition Newsletter - July 15, 2021

Jul 15, 2021

Hi friends and welcome aboard new subscribers!

In the Bring Ambition Newsletter, I share 3-5+ things that are fascinating me lately in the world of professional and personal development, performance optimization, psychology, creativity, and more. You'll receive unconventional resources, practical advice, and other inspiring content.

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1.) How to Decide, so far

I've started Annie Duke's How to Decide: Simple Tools for Better Choices and I'm finding it both unsurprisingly valuable and surprisingly challenging.

Unsurprisingly valuable because, as you'll remember, I had very high expectations going in, and Duke delivers.

And yes, it is surprisingly challenging. That's a good thing in this instance. How to Decide is both nonfiction and a workbook. There are tons of reflective questions and prompts throughout which ask you to examine previous decisions you've made, or choices you are actively deciding on.

The only problem is I am finding it challenging to even remember decisions I've made that work for her prompts. For example, she asks readers to remember a time when the quality of their decision-making process was low, but the outcome was still good. How long does it take you to think of something? And that's an easier example.

So if you struggled, like me, what should we make of that?

Are there really people out there who think of life as a series of consequential decisions, and we are simply outliers?

Or are most human beings simply impulsive, crappy decision-makers? To quote Daniel Z. Lieberman, MD, a George Washington University professor and psychiatrist:

"Only once in a while do we sit down to consider our options rationally, weighing one against the other. Such an exercise is tiring work, and the outcome is rarely satisfying. We seldom reach the point at which we can say with certainty that we made the right decision. It’s much easier just to do what we want, so that’s what we do."

Like most things, I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

Sure, there are super-rational people out there who can more easily catalog the important decisions they've made over time. But I don't think I am one of them. And people in general are not great, methodical decision makers — we vastly overestimate how skillful we are in making decisions, are subject to countless unhelpful shortcuts and cognitive biases, and often rely on our intuition to decide and then rationalize our choices after the fact.

So on both counts, it's all the more reason I'm finding it valuable to read this book. For one, I am doubtlessly paying more attention to my decisions. Just spending time with the subject strengthens the muscle. And second, I'm still able to shoot from the hip, but when an important decision point arises I feel more capable of addressing it in a sound, objective way.

In the end, it's better to have the toolkit and choose not to use it than to not have it at all.

2.) On confirmation bias

“Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” — John Kenneth Galbraith, award-winning economist

3.) Uplifting news of the week

“Japan appoints 'Minister of Loneliness' to fight pandemic-driven isolation.”

Even though Minister of Loneliness sounds like an emo band or a Tim Burton character, this initiative is admirable and I hope A.) it continues beyond the pandemic, and B.) more countries launch similar programs (Japan leads global social isolation studies, but the US does almost as poorly).

4.) Person I’m learning more about

Earlier this month I visited the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Aside from being blown away by his surrealist art, I’m fascinated by Dali as a person. Here are some fun facts for you:

Dali - and subsequently his art - was deeply influenced by Sigmund Freud.
Despite his surreal art and eccentric behavior, Dali did absolutely no drugs. He once famously stated, “I don't do drugs, I am drugs.”
As a prank, he once sold Yoko Ono a blade of grass for $10,000.
Dali was expelled from art school… twice.

More to come on this fascinating, creative character!

That’s a wrap for this week’s newsletter!

I’d love to hear your feedback — What did you enjoy? What stunk and needs to be fixed ASAP? You can reply here or reach me via any of the links below.

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