Obstacles to the correct decision 阻碍我们作出正确决定的因素

　　我们每天都要作出各种各样的决定，有些决定至关重要，有些则无关紧要。聪明的人就一定会作出最明智的选择吗？本期节目讨论阻碍人们作出正确决定的因素。

　　词汇：making decisions 作决定

　　Life is full of choices, some inconsequential, some really significant. But sometimes it can be hard to make the correct one. What are the obstacles that stand between us and a good outcome?

　　Some of us just find it hard to decide. Alice Boyes, writing for Harvard Business Review, tells us this can be connected to perfectionism, where people attempt to find a perfect solution to any problem and are unable to move forward when they can't find one. It might seem that being indecisive would stop us making the right decision, but in fact it could actually help us make the correct ones.

　　Susan Krauss in Psychology¹ Today reminds us that people often make bad decisions because they base them on preconceptions rather than the context in which things happen. She highlights a paper by researcher Iris² Schneider which finds that indecisive people are more likely to look at different perspectives and use them to come to a better decision. So, it could be that a more significant barrier to making the best choice is our cognitive³ biases⁴.

　　David Robson, speaking to the BBC's Crowd Science, tells us that intelligence can sometimes stop people making the right decision. People sometimes use intelligence to invent justifications⁵ for irrational⁶ beliefs. He believes that humility⁷ is key to making a good decision. People who can accept that they might be wrong are more likely to consider different viewpoints. He is backed up on this by Jeff Bezos. Tech CEO Jason Fried recalls the Amazon founder⁸ saying how the people who were right a lot of the time were the people who often changed their minds.

　　So, maybe rather than indecision, it might be intelligence and decisiveness, backed up by our biases that actually stop us making good choices. While humility and indecisiveness could help us pick the best option.

　　词汇表

　　choice 选择

　　inconsequential 无关紧要的

　　significant 重要的

　　good outcome 好的结果

　　decide 作决定

　　perfectionism 完美主义

　　perfect solution 完美的解决办法

　　indecisive 犹豫不决的

　　preconception 先入之见，成见

　　perspective （思考问题的）角度，观点

　　come to a decision 作出一个决定

　　barrier 障碍

　　cognitive bias 认知偏差

　　justification 辩解，正当理由

　　irrational belief 非理性的看法

　　humility 谦逊

　　change one's mind 改变主意

　　indecisiveness 犹豫不决

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