Instincts, we all have them. Bad decisions, we've all made them. Theoretically (at least on some level) one is supposed to keep you from the other. But as I am sure all of us can attest, that is not always the case.
But let us disect that conclusion a little.
I am going to argue that with many bad decisions, our instincts do tell us to do otherwise, we just choose to ignore them and make the bad decision anyway. Yes, of course there are exceptions, but generally if I look back on the many, many bad decisions in my life, right before nearly all of them, I felt this funny twinge in my stomach, and I didn't listen!
Why do I ignore this time tested signal? Do I really think this time will be different than all the ones before it? Do I really think that the accumulated knowledge, or reason, or common sense, or just plain fear that combine to create a surge of adrenaline that causes my stomach to do a flip flop will be wrong? Why can my "rational" brain overpower my "irrational" gut, when usually my "irrational" gut is right? I mean WTF?
I think maybe it is not quite that simple.
… and then it was 2012
12 years ago
This topic definitely resonates with my experience. I think part of it might just be being young - when you're young, you think that you "should" do things because of whatever reason and you don't realize how important that internal compass is. But I think investigating these decisions is really smart - hopefully you won't make the same mistake twice (at least I hope I won't).
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