decision making — Writing Things

Groupthink: When People in Groups Make Irrational Decisions

Groupthink occurs when social conformity in a group leads to irrational decision-making or beliefs.

Janis describes it as “the mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive ingroup that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.”

He goes on to say, “…the term refers to a deterioration in mental efficiency, reality testing and moral judgments as a result of group pressures”.

Janis argues that groupthink drove the failure to anticipate Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor despite the various warning signs. Intelligence lost contact with Japanese aircraft carriers, but Admiral H. E. Kimmel and his post didn’t even suspect that they could be the next target.

Human Behaviour, PhilosophySonia DiabOctober 5, 2020groupthink, philosophy, stoicism, decision making

How the Paradox of Choice is Wasting Your Time

The paradox of choice is a paradox because we assume that more choices are necessarily a good thing. If I’m a business and I offer more options to my customers, I’d anticipate better sales results. If you’re staying in on a Friday night and want to watch a movie, you’d think that having thousands of movies available through streaming services would be a convenient and helpful service.

And while having choices can be empowering, having too many choices can be a hindrance.

On Productivity: Decision Fatigue and Crappy Afternoons

We have a limited amount of energy for decision-making, so minimising the peripheral choices we would otherwise add to the mix can help us focus on more important things. Otherwise, by the time evening rolls around, we end up irritable and exhausted. You could find yourself at the tail end of the workday, making dumb concessions in a negotiation. Or, you could be so mentally drained that you give in to your impulse to order too much junk food from UberEats. Lowered inhibitions and stupid choices because our brain is done and over it.

Panic Buying: What’s behind it?

Toilet paper. Who knew.

And with all the accusations of people being horrible and selfish, I felt the need to chime in with some potential behavioural science-based reasons influencing why panic buying is one of the many odd things happening since we hopped on this Coronacoaster in March of 2020.