On Decisions & Decision Spaces
Options are the curse of modern day life. Some may say it is a first world problem, a problem of plenty, and indeed it is. But it is a real problem. I see myself, and more & more people struggling to juggle the too many options in everyday life. With the choices & decision points comes a pervasive state of discontent & decision fatigue. Things are not helped by social media & targetted advertising, with algorithms fine-tuned to create a sense of addiction, a sense of longing.
Our parents generation, particularly if you grew up Indian Middle Class, was characterised by scarcity. Everyone has heard of tales from their parents of saving & waiting for years to buy a refrigerator, or a scooter, or getting a telephone installed. You had one stable job and once you started & got married, you were reasonably assured your life’s path. It is unquestionable that the quality of life has increased dramatically, all the aforementioned things can be bought by a white-collar worker in their first year of employment after college. It is ironic though that getting to this blissful state of plenty has unleashed demons of its own.
We have more entertainment than we can consume in a 1000 lifetimes. Millions of movies, music, books — available at your fingertips. Best from around the world. Gone are the days when you would need a bard to pass by your village to be able to hear a melodious song, or a travelling troupe to see a play and hear a story enacted.
Yet all of us are dissatisfied. Our lives are full of anxiety & stress. Isn’t a lot of it related to the question — What is the right next thing to do?
Decisions can come small and large. Small decisions like… should I go to office or WFH? Should I take the bus or call a taxi? Which movie should I watch? Or should I read a book instead? What should I eat for lunch? Larger decisions would be — Should I stay in my current job or change my job? Should I study Computer Science, or Arts, or Philosophy? Should we go on a destination vacation or spend the time with parents? On and on.
In addition to the sheer number of decisions, what is also overwhelming is that the decision space in front of us is not very well defined. In some ways, we have more options than we imagine. And in other ways, the decisions space is smaller than it looks. What does this mean? Allow me to go deeper.
As you are reading this, one option you have in the next moment is to jump out of seat and shout “Off with their heads!”. It sounds ridiculous, but it is indeed one option in the space of options. More realistic examples may be — in the next day, send a message to a college friend you have lost touch with, or take a random bus in the evening to go somewhere in the city you haven’t been. These are valid options which may actually enrich one’s life. And we are just talking about a short time period here — an hour, an evening. Apply induction over weeks & months & years, and these decisions may lead you travelling to a new country, developer deeper friendships, starting a new hobby, changing careers.
But on the other hand, “valid” decision spaces can also be smaller than we sometimes think. This is when we are looking from outside in and asking “what does the world expect from me”? If you are into spirituality, you may ask instead “what is my duty (my Dharma)?”. Does a CEO of a tobacco company have an option to stop promoting cigarette smoking? No, he does not. If he makes any indication of the same, he will be replaced by the company’s board. And they will put in charge someone who’s more aligned to the company’s interests. Do I have an option of jumping out of my seat & shouting “Off with their heads!”? Not really, if I wish to be considered as a sane individual in society. The socio-economic environment we operate in and the incentive structures put constraints on our decision space. If you wish to go against it, do not expect the environment to reward you. If you do decide to go against conventions, make sure you are not judging your success by conventional measures.
How do people function in such a mind-bogglingly complex world? We narrow our focus, learn to ignore the full decision place. We build habits which don’t require mental processing. Traditions, culture & religions help us with best practices. You may even make conscious lifestyle decisions of your own. Like deciding to wear the same black turtleneck everyday. My wife has decided to leave all social-media because it does not bring her joy. Someone else may decide to stop watching Netflix altogether.
Over time, it has become more & more obvious to me that decision making is more emotional activity than a rational activity. You may think about a decision rationally for hours but the final act of deciding is strictly emotional (Actually this is a scientific claim, so I may be proven or disproven on this in the future). Most decisions aren’t numerical, and so your rational mind can never be 100% sure of the pros & cons. Decision making requires a leap of faith which the rational brain is incapable of. If anyone’s emotional system goes haywire, they would be unable to make decisions even if their rational-faculty is intact.
If this topic piques you, I would encourage you to also watch this excellent TED talk by Barry Schwartz, which I saw for the first time over a decade ago and go back to every once in a while.
