"Jonah Lehrer has a new book, ‘How we Decide” and he offers us non-neuroscientists a glimpse into the neuroscience, psychological and emotion behind decision making. He shows us that there is no art to decision making. I wanted to know how the brain works, but I also wanted to confirm my theory that I make better decisions than my 20 year old.
Mr. Lehrer wrote his book because he would easily become paralyzed even when trying to make a simple decision like, what kind of cheerios does my wife like…. with honey, no sugar, what if she doesn’t like it, etc….20 minutes later he is still in the aisle at Giant’s mumbling, which one should I buy, I like Cheerios?
Sometimes too much information is a really bad thing when it comes to making a decision, and that's part of the predicament we often find ourselves in. When I read 12 post reports, then we have to submit a bid list and I really just want to go play basketball, (but I can’t say that because she’s wanting me to be serious) what do I do? When you have all these different brands, options, details and choices, I become a little shaky too. This book resonated with own my personal career decisions, I can’t explain why I chose this over that. “How did you know to do that”, reply, “because I just knew it was the right answer.” I was impressed by the way Mr. Lehrer explained how emotions affect physiological changes, and how research has shown that people under stress will still make great decisions.
This is a good read for the young and old. Jonah is a good story teller and he mixes just the right amount of research, economics, science and humor to make it worth the time to read it. Also try his first book “Proust was a Neuroscientist”."
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