The Myth of Choice_ Personal Responsibility in a World of Limits - Kent Greenfield [82]
Here’s the good news. Most of the power of this memory “defect” is likely to vanish simply by making people aware of this tendency. Once we are aware of our fallibility, we can adjust our thinking about the past. I have started using this insight when my family plans our vacations. I understand that the last day of the vacation is probably the most important in creating a positive memory of the trip for the family. And you know how the last day of a vacation is often the worst? You’re tired and cranky. Traveling is stressful. You’re going back to work or school the next day. So our strategy is to reduce the length of our vacations by a day. We can be more relaxed in our return, be in better spirits, and have a transition day at home before the work or school week starts. We do this because we have a greater likelihood of remembering the vacation more favorably if its last day was pleasant rather than characterized by collective exhaustion and mutual ill humor. I offer this example not to suggest how to plan a vacation but to show that my understanding of my own tendencies in remembering the past has helped me make better choices.
Other choice making tendencies, cataloged in earlier chapters, can be accommodated and allowed for. For example, humans tend to believe that beautiful people are more trustworthy and that ugly or obese people are less so, but we can mitigate the effect simply by being aware of the tendency. We tend to believe factual assertions or opinions that match up with our own cultural and political beliefs, but if we’re conscious of it we can inject a dose of skepticism about views that match up with ours, and openness toward those that conflict. We are susceptible to frames and anchors that trick our minds into making certain comparisons (“This suit is half as expensive as that one!” or “If you will buy this car today I will give you a 10 percent discount off the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price!”), but we can learn to recognize those influences and protect ourselves against them.
What I am suggesting is a little humility about our choice making powers. If we’re not careful, we can be nudged in all kinds of different ways by those who know our tendencies better than we do. It may be counterintuitive, but the more we know about our own fallibility, the better choosers we are likely to be.
A third way we can become better choosers is to be mindful of our habits. We’ve discussed in several places in this book our how brains crave shortcuts. We love routine, familiarity, rote. Our worlds are so complex that we would go insane if we deliberated about every decision and every purchase. So our brains develop habits that save us time, energy, and sanity. We also develop schemas—rules of thumb—that help us make quick decisions in the face of complexity.
So habit, routines, and schemas can be extraordinarily helpful. But whether they are a positive or negative influence on our lives depends on the habits. If they make us happier and healthier, that’s an advantage. If they make us miserable, less wise, or more physically fragile, they’re a bad thing.
Here’s how we can be better choosers when it comes to habits.
Sometimes I hear talk of the importance of a considered