RDM reflection

Writing about web page #RobustDecisionMaking #RDM

More often than not we are put in a situation where we are required to make decisions. In most cases, we don't even realize when we make a decision or why we made a decision. We tend to go with our "gut" feeling. The reality is that we tend to defer to our System 1 decision making skills. System 1 is generally automatic and intuitive decision making. This is based on our preference of taking mental shortcuts to solve a problem. This usually require minimal effort and leads to many wrong decisions. We base these decisions on four main heuristics. The representative heuristic, the recognition or availability heuristic, the anchoring and adjustment heuristic and the affect heuristic.

System 2 requires more effort and considers all possibilities and alternatives. A person can override their ssystem 1 decision making with system 2 if they aware of some of the system 1 mental shortcuts they tend to use.

This module really allowed me to rethink my everyday decisions and made me aware that I have to re-evaluate more important decisions based on facts and probabilities rather than intuition. This is much harder said than done. There are many psychological aspects a person needs to be aware of in order to consciously resist system 1 decision making.

Psychology and statistics play a major role in the understanding of this module. I think some of the concepts may have been hard to grasp due to our lack of in-depth knowledge the class had in these two areas.

Charles Adjei : 12 Mar 2014 16:50 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem