I feel like I want to be sure I’m making the best decision, no matter what.
As the effort of becoming more certain that I am definitely making the best choice becomes unpleasant, I try to escape by convincing myself that the satisfaction of resolving the issue exceeds even my optimistic projection of what improvement further optimization effort will bring.
The first is a personality flaw. The second is a perhaps unnecessarily painful way of managing it. But it seems natural to me that the burden of proof is on my pain-avoiding rationalizing self to spare me conscious deliberation. Since I’m in no way protected against over-deliberation that feels good, I suppose if I route around the flaw only for low-value-of-thinking/searching cases, I’ll be better off as well as happier.
I liked your characterization of “feels big” vs. “nagging doubt” hesitations, and your suggestion of trying to remember sensations/feelings that happened in advance of losing a gamble (although that way leads to superstition as well). “Visualize” is a good suggestion—although of course we’re biased toward what visualizes most vividly for us. And with enough experience, routine decisions are made very cheaply—without visualizing anything.
I have a slightly less careful method:
I feel like I want to be sure I’m making the best decision, no matter what.
As the effort of becoming more certain that I am definitely making the best choice becomes unpleasant, I try to escape by convincing myself that the satisfaction of resolving the issue exceeds even my optimistic projection of what improvement further optimization effort will bring.
The first is a personality flaw. The second is a perhaps unnecessarily painful way of managing it. But it seems natural to me that the burden of proof is on my pain-avoiding rationalizing self to spare me conscious deliberation. Since I’m in no way protected against over-deliberation that feels good, I suppose if I route around the flaw only for low-value-of-thinking/searching cases, I’ll be better off as well as happier.
I liked your characterization of “feels big” vs. “nagging doubt” hesitations, and your suggestion of trying to remember sensations/feelings that happened in advance of losing a gamble (although that way leads to superstition as well). “Visualize” is a good suggestion—although of course we’re biased toward what visualizes most vividly for us. And with enough experience, routine decisions are made very cheaply—without visualizing anything.