Deflating the myth of rational choice, Jonah Lehrer’s How We Decide runs through the research about decision-making and decisions, and comes out with the perhaps refreshing news that we go with our gut feelings most of the time. Depending on the type of decision we’re making, that emotional tilt may be helpful — or even necessary — or it may mislead, but it’s 100% real.
Lehrer writes differently from Malcom Gladwell (to Lehrer’s credit), but this kind of science survey falls firmly into the same genre. I’m quite sure every publisher has an eye out for similar work. A Lehrer strength, I found, is that he’s stayed in the same area of neuroscience and its implications for several articles and books. How We Decide illuminates one area of the study of the mind, both biological foundations and real-world actions. But there’s plenty of other tacks to take, and Lehrer’s demonstrated fascination should lead to more shared insights. I’ll be following his blog from now on.
(This is part of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)