If made freely, a choice feels like the right thing at the time.
But we realize it was a mistake later, once the moment passes. We don’t know now what we learned in the future.
Bad choices can be caused by:
- Poor information
- Shoddy analysis (including cognitive glitches and reliance on sunk costs)
- Peer pressure
- Manipulation
- Hustle
- Power imbalance
- Focus on the short run
- Indoctrination
- Superstition
- Unexamined biases
Take a look: each of these is the product of outside forces and can be unlearned and insulated against. The good news is that we can get better at our choices.