How your brain justifies decisions after they’re made

How do you make decisions? Probably, first you collect information and analyze the options for the development of events. Then you weigh the pros and cons of different scenarios. Finally, you come to a conclusion, make a choice, speak or act. This is what the ideal map of human thinking looks like. Of course, each of us wants to believe that this is exactly what we are doing.

However, in real or “field” conditions, everything often happens exactly the opposite. Without any exaggeration. Most of your decisions were made before you started thinking deeply. The main and often the only support is intuition, biased faith, and the hope of luck. Simply put, you make a choice and only then try to find arguments to explain why this decision is the right one.

4 ways our brain justifies decisions after they’re made and how to live with it

1. Logic and control

Everyone considers themselves the author of their own actions, especially if they turn out to be successful. If you fail, you can find the culprits, whether it’s circumstances, bad influences, or just plain bad luck. You’re a reasonable person; you only made a move after you thought it over carefully. The first part of the statement is accurate, but there are already questions about the second one. Is everything really so smooth and smooth? Maybe there is an autosuggestion, an attempt to create a feeling of complete control over life? Why did you choose this job, move to that city, and stop communicating with that person?

Of course, there will be an answer, perhaps even with arguments and a logical chain. If desired, causal relationships can be found between any things, even the day of the week and the color of the taxi. Visit. A F R I N I K . C O M . For the full article. But this does not eliminate the reality where your explanations are more an observation than a reason for decisions and events.

Throughout the day, your mind processes a huge amount of information in the background. It notices the speaker’s intonation, the mood of others, his own emotional state, and many other details. It is often these inconspicuous elements that shape perception, determine what is right and useful right now, and what is best to stay away from. This does not mean that we are completely weak-willed creatures. But the choice of the direction to follow is often dictated by feelings, which can later be overgrown with convenient arguments.

2. Suspicious intuition

Intuition is considered something of a whim. To rely on it is to confess your own infantile nature, to confess your commitment to all kinds of esoteric practices. A reasonable person can’t afford that. Rather, he only thinks so, although in practice it is on the advice of intuition that he makes a significant part of everyday decisions. Naturally, this is hidden behind the idea that you have thought everything out in full awareness. It’s worth noting that intuition is not always right, but logic often fails. That’s why they have a fierce debate in your head. Let’s be intuitive for at least a few minutes.

You know that there are many extremely important things in life that defy rational analysis. Offhand friendship, love, sympathy or antipathy. Almost all feelings are dictated by anything but reason. On the other hand, later we can easily find an explanation for sudden friendship or love. For example, common interests and values. It only became clear after the appearance of sympathy and the consolidation of the relationship. That is, first the choice, then the explanations, if they are needed at all.

3. Advocate of Reason

The brain performs many functions, including moonlighting as a mind advocate. If the choice was random, impulsive, or emotional, internal discomfort appears. Sometimes it’s just unbearable to live with the thought that you don’t know why you did it, said those words, contacted that person. The brain realizes that it has lost control of what is happening at the most inopportune moment. Therefore, he begins to collect evidence in favor of the correctness of the decision. In this state, you switch to manual control mode. There is an understandable task the search for supporting facts, suitable arguments, justifying judgments. There is no question of any objectivity. The main thing is to reduce the feeling of discomfort from the impending uncertainty.

4. Justifying victory

The winners find themselves in the deepest trap. People who really made the right decision or grabbed luck by the tail. In such a situation, almost no one will ever give up the idea that they acted extremely rationally. No luck, chance is nothing. On the contrary, others and life itself put sticks in the wheels, hindering them in every conceivable way. The entrepreneur will say that he saw the prospect and calculated the market behavior.

The athlete will refer to a clear plan and constant work on himself. To a greater or lesser extent, this was the case, but there is also an objective reality that adds a bit of randomness to every success story. When you make a decision, the choice doesn’t seem completely obvious. However, if it turns out to be correct, you should put it in a container, add a little time, and cover it with a lid. Very soon your past will be transformed; it will become absolutely logical. It would seem that no other options were considered at all; there simply could not be any other outcome.

How to live with it

Not every decision you make is entirely yours; rationality often does not keep up with emotions and desires. However, it’s not that bad. Complete freedom is impossible, but all people in the world live in the same state. The main question is how well you will learn to understand your own actions. Intuition is not the sick sister of logic, but a full fledged member of the family along with emotions and feelings. Circumstances and the external environment inevitably affect the worldview and the quality of choice.

You won’t be able to take all this into account and control it, especially at a time when you need to make a decision quickly. However, experience should be gained from every choice. It accumulates and acts as a kind of filter, trying to prevent the repetition of mistakes, not to allow some kind of analysis tool to dominate completely.