Making Decisions

When given the prompt for this week's discussion (particularly the part about logical versus intuitive thought), I immediately thought of Malcom Gladwell's book Blink. The overall premise of the book is that sometimes making quick/split-second decisions turns out to have the same (or sometimes better) effect than if we painstakingly think out every last detail of our decision. "Going with your gut" is not always a poor choice depending on the decision you're making. Gladwell discusses how this is true for speed dating, playing tennis, deciding on the authenticity of a Grecian statue, and many other situations. Part of our decision-making process is innate. We can spend an infinity reasoning something out when deep down we already have a natural inclination towards one choice or another.

I feel that I often get bogged down by logic when making my decisions. I like to think that all of my choices involve a mix of intuitive and logical thought, though one usually predominates. I worry. I especially worry when the decision I'm making involves another person. Logically, I attempt to play out future real-life situations in my head. I imagine myself voicing my concerns to the person of interest, and I picture the reaction on their face. Unfortunately, I think my tendency to think things through often results in me not taking chances.

I'm reminded of a quote I stumbled across on tumblr:

"Life begins outside your comfort zone."

Guess I just need to start getting comfortable with occasionally being uncomfortable.