Don't be an Ass !

I love the Ass. More specifically, Buridan’s Ass. Hmm… to be perfectly clear I love the paradox of Buridan’s Ass. Maybe I should start all over again by replacing Ass with Donkey to avoid any misunderstanding.

The story goes like this. There is this Ass. *sigh* There is this Donkey, which is like totally hungry and equally very thirsty. A big bushel of hay and a pail of water is placed in front of it. One on the right and one on the left. What does it do?

It starves to death.

Yup. The Ass is unable to decide whether to eat first or drink first. Its brain freezes, enters a stalemate situation and it is unable to take any steps. It therefore is the paradox that given a choice of equally good options there is no rational decision possible and therefore you do not take a decision.

What would it take to break the stalemate you may ask!

The only way to get past this is a coin toss and a random choice. There are no other possibilities.

Why does it freeze you may ask!

This paradox not just in philosophy but very commonly in real life too. Everyone has been party to situations where there is indecision or difficulty in decision making because the inputs provided present you with a conundrum. You freeze as your brain is presented with two equal choices.

Many will be aware of such situations at work. How do I decide to promote one of two equally good candidates? Both achieved project targets, both did well on quality, on time, on cost and both excelled at customer satisfaction. Finally when you are unable to decide, you pick the one who you “feel” deserves it more. This decision is random, has no scientific basis but is taken arbitrarily as you have a stalemate. Freezing is not an option and not deciding is also not an option. Fortunately, the human brain is evolved enough to do the coin toss.

There is this organizational dilemma on decision making when presented with the choice of proactively investing in something versus waiting for client investing decision to occur. Both result in a significant business boost but there is a freeze and indecision becomes THE decision. This cycle of inability to decide can be dangerous and the only way to come out of it would be a risk taking decision or risk aversion decision based on the appetite.

Similarly, a decision presents itself when you are driving, and a young girl runs across the street. You cannot brake in time but you can steer away. But there is an old woman on the left side and a young boy on the right side. What will you do? Unfortunately, freezing in your boots would have been a good option but this is more of an ethical situation presenting itself.

This is a bit of a Catch 22 situation though. Not the same as the Buridan’s ass although it presents itself similarly. Here the catch 22 is an unending loop triggered by contradictory demands. For example: I need a job to gain experience, but the job demands experience before they can give it to me. So, you are unable to enter the loop. ?

Indecision is worse than a wrong decision they say. Decision making is an ass they say. Now you know what they mean when they say…What an ass! ?

Get off the fence. Take a stance. A strong positive one. Take a risk, an informed one, a calculated one. Don't be an Ass.