I’m a little doubtful about this particular study, since it’s measuring satisfaction with the choice, rather than choice quality, and learning about alternatives retrospectively can lower satisfaction but not choice quality. That said, there’s definitely a lot to be said for using instincts in many cases; switching from instinct which includes more data to explicit reasoning which uses less information is a common failure mode.
Of course, we can’t just trust our instincts directly; they’re full of ape-stuff. We have to understand them well enough to know when to trust and when to override, to adjust a few knobs, and to work around the major flaws. In particular, our instincts for danger are much too strong for our present environment, and they also have a lot of stuff in them that responds to status. personally, I had to strongly weaken my resistance to perceived status moves, because it left me unable to take advice or update in many circumstances.
I’m a little doubtful about this particular study, since it’s measuring satisfaction with the choice, rather than choice quality, and learning about alternatives retrospectively can lower satisfaction but not choice quality. That said, there’s definitely a lot to be said for using instincts in many cases; switching from instinct which includes more data to explicit reasoning which uses less information is a common failure mode.
Of course, we can’t just trust our instincts directly; they’re full of ape-stuff. We have to understand them well enough to know when to trust and when to override, to adjust a few knobs, and to work around the major flaws. In particular, our instincts for danger are much too strong for our present environment, and they also have a lot of stuff in them that responds to status. personally, I had to strongly weaken my resistance to perceived status moves, because it left me unable to take advice or update in many circumstances.