Traufetter¹ identifies two distinct, not necessarily overlapping factors in slow or poor decision-makers. On one hand, the brain function responsible for visualizing the potential outcome of a decision and assessing its emotional impact—often through pattern recognition—may operate more meticulously in certain individuals, leading them to identify more potential negative outcomes. To illustrate this point, Traufetter quotes Peter Ustinov: “Courage is often a lack of insight, while cowardice is frequently based on good information.”
On the other hand, this brain function may begin issuing stronger warning signals in individuals who have experienced multiple negative outcomes, particularly for choices they might later regret. As a result, their decision-making process may alter accordingly. Although Traufetter does not delve deeply into the specifics, he simply notes that such individuals “may be prone to making poorer decisions”.²
Traufetter appears to suggest a downward spiral: after a series of negative experiences, the decision-making process deteriorates, leading the individual to make further choices that also end poorly, and so on. However, Traufetter provides no details to substantiate this suggestion further. Although he has interviewed numerous scientists and includes a fair number of references, his book contains many assertions that remain ungrounded.
Both points remind me of schema theory. Our ability to mentally represent things—whether actual past experiences or hypothetical scenarios—and to respond with thoughts and feelings (evaluation) appears to be hardwired into our brains. However, the way in which we utilize this capacity likely varies from person to person, potentially influenced by learned behavior to some extent or even entirely.
People may have long or short decision-making processes, different methods of integrating new or prior information into their decisions, and so on. Unfortunately, I don’t have a strong reference to support this addition at the moment. The only immediate source I can find is a chapter in the NLP book Heart of the Mind, which touches on this topic—but it’s purely anecdotal and selectively highlights only success stories.³
Daniel Schacter was convinced that information is stored unconsciously not only in amnesic patients but also in healthy individuals. This phenomenon is most evident when consciousness is turned off, such as under anesthesia. In the operating room, Schacter read lists of words to some patients. After they emerged from anesthesia, he tested them—and indeed, they showed a preference for the words they had previously heard.⁴
Friday 17 July 2009