Short Summary Why You Shouldn’t Feel Bad About Deciding Based on Gut Feeling
I believe that one of the problems some leaders face these days is the belief that being professional means not being emotional. They think that to make decisions, one should disregard their so-called gut feeling and focus exclusively on facts and data.
In practice, it's not really possible, even if you think you're doing that. Neurologist Lisa Feldman Barrett conducted a ton of amazing research that proves something you've probably heard before: our brains are master storytellers, and they craft the most compelling narratives for ourselves. When you make a decision, your visceral feeling always comes first. The more you urge yourself to think "rationally," the better the backstory your brain will create to explain your decision, but that's about it.
You can make things easier for yourself and arrive at better outcomes faster if you just accept this reality. Stop interfering with your whole nervous system—not only the part in your skull—let it do its job, and follow your "gut feeling."
Does this mean your intuition is always right and the brain is wrong? Absolutely not. A lot depends on the quality of your intuition, which stems directly from your beliefs and experiences.
This also gives us hope that we can get better at making decisions as, if we believe Prof. Barrett's research, it's the "guts" that are calling the shots anyway.
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Being open-minded, humble, and focused on learning from every person and every experience allows us to upgrade our priors, —so to speak weights and biases that make the "Large Language Model" inside our bodies— work better. This is the same mechanism as behind the "identity shifts" that are the best way to adopt healthy habits.
Next time you have to decide between what feels right and what seems reasonable, remember that what feels right is actually your brain plus your whole nervous system in your body drawing the best possible conclusion from the sum of your experiences and beliefs. That seems like a pretty reasonable way to make a decision to me.
There are other people who frame similar thesis in an amazing way:
Senior Brand and Web Designer with UX approach | Art Directory
1 年Agree! And perhaps the worst thing is to claim that by being 'emotional' we cannot be 'professional'.? Human beings are not logical beings, but they can have an understanding and manage their emotions.?
Director of Design @ Hippo Insurance | Mentor for future designers leaders | Head of Design | Design Manager | Founder Designer
1 年I am rereading Kahneman. Is gut feeling in your example essentially system 1? And we need to train it with a good data as AI? Or am I oversimplyfying?