Ask HN: What are your fav/goto decision making hacks/heuristics?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44198677

by ottaborra • 1 year ago

6 11 1 year ago

news.ycombinator.com

I'm always curious to know other folks' heuristics for better decision making whether it be "ask questions after action" or top-10 ways this will fail list and throw out the last 5. It helps to understand people in general and general forecasting of decisions

MultifokalHirn• 1 year ago

Gut feeling + risk assessment

ottaborra2• 1 year ago

Fair heuristic. AA lot of people report it (gut feeling) doesn't scale as much as they'd like

kratom_sandwich• 1 year ago

- When in doubt, save money / do the cheaper thing (mostly for consumption, vacation planning)

- Say yes (for activities with friends / colleagues; cf. "The Yes Man" with Jim Carrey)

ottaborra2• 1 year ago

When in doubt save money. I have a friend who does the opposite. My friend of misery always regrets it and never learns

cedws• 1 year ago

And if you say no, make plans for next time. As a Gen Z I’ve noticed a lot of people my age will always decline, never take initiative in making plans, then wonder why nobody hangs out with them.

I’ve started using what I call the ‘two strikes rule.’ If I make two attempts to invite someone out and they’re declined without reciprocative energy, I give up on maintaining the relationship. Same with conversations. I’m tired of dealing with social vampires.

chistev• 1 year ago

"When faced with 2 choices, simply toss a coin. It works not because it settles the question for you. But because in that brief moment when the coin is in the air YOU SUDDENLY KNOW WHAT YOUR HOPING FOR."

swah3• 1 year ago

Be aware if some decision is reversible - and if so, go carelessly.

For example: should I go to gyms in the morning or afternoon? Why spend 30 minutes thinking about that, you can just change next week and see what works. I get into these mental traps.

Similarly, many times implementing both options (software) is cheap and you can just test instead of mentally elaborating on what would be better... once its done, its obvious. Also goes for undoing changes with git.

swah3• 1 year ago

"Once there, I never regretted going to the gym."

treetalker2• 1 year ago

Some of my favorite heuristics / decision algorithms:

- I see flowers at the store. Should I buy some for my $specialPerson ? Yes.

- What will happen if I make this same choice 1,000 days (or more) in a row?

- What I do now is what I always do. (This has two senses. First, it reminds me that I'm primed to act in a certain way now because I have been consistent in doing the same thing in the past — so it helps me remember that I'm a creature of habit, but I can also choose something else, which will take more effort because it's not a habit yet. And second, it reminds me of the foregoing in that making a certain choice now will make it easier to make the same choice later, and will build a habit too. In other words, every choice is part of the habit-building process, and I should strive to live consistently.)

swah3• 1 year ago

Those were awesome! If there is $reading_material related to this, please post.

treetalker2• 1 year ago

Nothing to read: action is what matters, not theorizing.

Put the two rules into practice, starting now. What action am I taking now? (What am I choosing to do?) Keeping in mind that what I do now is what I always do, what will happen / where will I be if I do the same thing 1,000 times/days in a row? The answer leads to these questions: Should I keep doing this? Should I be consistently doing something else?

Today I went to CrossFit even though I have a pulled muscle in my hip. I didn't feel like it, but exercising every day is what I do. I skipped the usual workout (running and squat/hinge work) because of the injury, but I did challenging chest and shoulder work instead, and I stretched afterward. Tomorrow I will go to yoga because when I do that 1,000 Saturdays in a row, it will supercharge my CrossFit and I'll have fewer instances of this (for me) already-rare injury.

Tonight if I start to feel like reaching for cookies/snacks to eat on the couch while watching TV, I will notice and either stop and decide I've already eaten enough for the day, or else I'll grab an apple instead. I'll also grab a book and read a chapter instead of watching drivel. That's what I do, and after doing that 1,000 more days in a row, I will have a better physique, less disease, and more knowledge.

Action is what matters.

Ask HN: What are your fav/goto decision making hacks/heuristics?

Related Stories