How To Make Rational Decisions And Sidestep Your Cognitive Biases
Your brain is wired for efficiency, for shortcuts, so making rational decisions may not as easy as you think.
Elliot was a thirty-something father and husband, held down a well-paying executive position with his employer, and provided well for his family. But things changed dramatically after undergoing surgery to remove a benign tumour from the central area of his prefrontal cortex — that area of the brain primarily responsible for executive decision making and cognition.
The operation was technically successful; however, upon his return to work, his previous high performance began to decline. He could no longer seem to make rational decisions because he couldn’t decide what was most important to do. Deliberating for hours over menial tasks, his previously sharp appraisal of conditions and reliable decision making seemed to be absent. A series of poor decisions turned into more dramatic ones, and soon he was fired from his job. He had some savings and a severance package from his prior employer, but he soon lost his money in a risky business venture and became bankrupt.
His private life also suffered. His wife divorced him, then he remarried, and soon after that, his second wife divorced him also. He had no…
