Explicit judgments and self-awareness can improve forecasting accuracy.
Aggregation and extremizing can enhance the accuracy of group forecasts.
Deep dives
The Importance of Forecasting in Decision Making
Forecasting is an essential part of decision making, as we constantly make decisions based on implicit or explicit expectations of future outcomes. The podcast emphasizes that explicit judgments and self-awareness of the forecasting process can lead to improved accuracy. It discusses the Good Judgment Project, a research program that aimed to revolutionize intelligence analysis by conducting forecasting tournaments. The project found that some individuals, known as super forecasters, consistently outperformed others. Super forecasters have higher measures of fluid intelligence, active open mindedness, and believe in the value of cultivating their forecasting skills.
The Role of Aggregation and Extremizing in Forecasting
The podcast highlights the role of aggregation in producing accurate forecasts. Averaging the opinions of a group of forecasters often leads to more accurate predictions than individual forecasts. However, the podcast introduces the concept of extremizing, which is a process that considers the diversity of perspectives within a group. If individuals independently arrive at similar forecasts based on diverse sources of information, extremizing allows for a more extreme forecast. The podcast notes that extremizing can enhance the accuracy of group forecasts beyond simple averaging.
Challenges of Open Mindedness and Intuition in Forecasting
The podcast acknowledges the challenges of fostering open mindedness in forecasting. People often perceive themselves as open minded, making it difficult to encourage further openness. The podcast suggests specific training exercises to help individuals practice belief updating and question their own judgments. However, achieving perfect Bayesian belief updating remains elusive, especially in ideologically charged situations. In terms of intuition, the podcast leans towards a 'think' approach over a 'blink' approach, highlighting the complexity and conditional nature of real-world problems compared to well-defined games like chess.
Application of Forecasting in Organizations
The podcast considers the application of forecasting in organizations and the potential benefits of setting up forecasting teams. It suggests incentivizing accuracy-focused forecasting games within organizations and exploring the impact on decision-making. However, it cautions that implementing such teams can create political friction and may not be feasible in all organizational contexts. The podcast also discusses the challenges of maintaining open-mindedness and accuracy within organizations where other factors, such as preserving status hierarchies or avoiding political instability, may compromise forecasting quality.
In this episode of the Knowledge Project, I chat with professor and New York Times best-selling author Philip Tetlock about how we can get better at the art and science of predicting the future.
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