In most situations, we don’t have a single obvious objective to pursue. Instead, we juggle many competing priorities in a complex environment. In real world situations, we have no idea what the best choice is.
Unfortunately, not knowing the right answer doesn’t eliminate the need to make decisions. We have to make decisions despite the fact that sometimes things will go poorly. So long as our bad decisions don’t kill us, we can carry on and try again.
Instead of thinking of people as optimizers, I think it makes more sense to see people as disaster avoiders. The role of much of the machinery in our heads seems to be to keep us out of trouble. For example, our startle reflex very quickly sets us in motion when something unexpected and potentially dangerous happens.
While our decision making is much more sophisticated than a mere reflex, I believe that one of the main focuses of our decision making methods is to keep us safe. We tend to prefer the status quo to change because the status quo worked in the past. We also tend to feel more comfortable doing things that other people are doing. If it hasn’t killed them yet, maybe it’s okay for me.
I think of the human brain as having a collection of tools that helps keep us alive. Our decisions only need to be good enough to let us survive another day.
