Our brain confabulates plausible explanations for actions based on limited information, leading to behaviors not reflecting true motives.
Addictions are a result of immediate gratification linking to survival, causing conflicts between control and impulsivity.
Feedback, personal stakes, and imitating risk-reward behaviors enhance decision-making validity, emphasizing the importance of real-world consequences.
Deep dives
Understanding the Distributed Brain Concept
Our brain functions like employees in a company, with different regions communicating but lacking a full overview. The analogy relates to decision-making processes, where limited information can lead to counterintuitive outcomes.
The Phenomenon of Confabulation in Human Behavior
Regions in the brain can see outputs from other regions but may not understand why. This leads to confabulation, where the brain invents plausible explanations, sometimes not reflecting reality. People often create narrative stories to explain actions, which may not align with the true reasons behind their behavior.
The Role of the Gatekeeper in Decision-Making
The brain has a gatekeeper that controls actions based on the expected emotional outcome. The gatekeeper evaluates the emotional consequences of actions to determine the best course of action. Understanding the gatekeeper's function helps explain impulsive behavior and the challenges in changing habits.
Understanding Addiction and Emotional Responses
Addictions often stem from doing things that provide immediate gratification or make individuals feel good, creating a mental association between the addictive behavior and survival. This association can lead to a feeling of danger when not engaging in the addictive behavior. The conflict between feeling in control while indulging in addictions and losing control when abstaining contributes to the struggle of breaking away from addictive habits.
Rationality, Diversity of Opinions, and Tradition in Decision Making
Human behavior, driven by emotions rather than analytical thinking, can be rational based on individual and societal contexts over time. Diversity of opinions, essential for preventing groupthink and ensuring valuable insights, is being challenged in modern society. The importance of tradition in decision-making processes, although underappreciated, could offer valuable insights when evaluating potential options and outcomes.
The Significance of Feedback and Skin in the Game for Decision Making
Feedback from reality and experiences, along with personal stakes or 'skin in the game,' play crucial roles in making informed and effective decisions. Applying real-world feedback and understanding consequences can enhance the validity of decisions. Imitating behaviors with a risk-reward component can provide beneficial outcomes, ensuring survival and encouraging rational choices based on experience and outcomes.
Why do people eat too much even when they don't want to? Why are there so many bad managers? And why might anti-vaxxers be useful? Luca Dellanna, author of The Control Heuristic, thinks the answers to all of these questions are in our heads, or rather in our basal ganglia. Dellanna talks to EconTalk's Russ Roberts about why both brains and employees need immediate feedback, why we're wired to believe our best guesses, and why addiction is just our brain's way of making sure we survive.
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