Rational thought served the beginners; it turned out, because they were still developing muscle memory and technique. But for those players who had already integrated all that information, instinct naturally took over — and did a far better job. Overriding instincts and neural patterning in favor of logical thought absolutely destroyed their performance.
many factors involved in a complex decision like, say, buying a house, that the limited space in the prefrontal cortex gets overwhelmed. In that state, it becomes the wrong part of the brain for the job.
Several studies support the wisdom of emotional decision-making in the realm of big choices. Lehrer cites one conducted at the University of Amsterdam “Once you’ve developed expertise in a particular that simulated the experience of buying a car, providarea — once you’ve made the requisite mistakes — it’s ing research subjects with overwhelming amounts of important to trust your emotions when making deci- detailed information. Some car buyers were briefly dissions in that domain,” Lehrer insists. If you know you tracted, then left to choose quickly and with their emocan do it, trust your gut — not your head. tions. Follow-up surveys revealed that they selected the most satisfying car 60 percent of the time. Other Next time you’re tempted to think too much about subjects who had more uninterrupted time in which to something you know how to do, try a little therapeu- choose were pleased with their decision less than 25 tic distraction. Say the alphabet backward when your percent of the time — worse even than random chance. yoga teacher orders you into the dreaded handstand, or sing a favorite song to yourself at the free-throw line. In another study, the same Dutch researchers shadBriefly engaging your conscious mind with something owed shoppers at IKEA, observing their shopping other than the task at hand can leave your instincts free behaviors. Later interviews indicated that those who to do their job — and free you to enjoy the satisfaction spent less time making their choices ended up more all that practice has made possible. satisfied overall. Choosing a couch and choosing a spouse are decidedly different acts, to be sure, but both “This is it!” tend to provoke the kind of agonized over-thinking that leads to poor choices. Using your intuitive brain in Most people have a great “I just knew these situations, on the other hand, will almost always it was right” story. It might be about the point you toward a lasting fulfillment. time they first spotted their sweetheart or crossed the threshold of their first house or figured out Of all the reasons to use your gut instincts to make they wanted to switch careers. There’s a reason most big decisions, this may be the best: It leads to the of us have memorable stories about the biggest and choices that are most fully satisfying — decisions that best decisions we make in life, says Orloff — they’re can improve the quality of your life. typically remarkable for their lack of cognitive heavy lifting. “It allows you to find relationships that resonate for you, instead of what looks good on paper,” Orloff says. When your intuition signals that you’ve found “It allows you to connect with people on a heart level, something or someone truly right for you, the choice it allows you to deeply experience life instead of just often becomes strangely easy. “It feels healthy; it feels letting it wash over you, and it allows you to be really good; it doesn’t feel like you’re forcing it, there’s not a smart about how you make your decisions.” lot of conflict,” she says.
5.
Lehrer agrees that when you’re poised to make a big decision with lasting repercussions, like choosing your life partner, you’re best off deciding from the gut. Based on the bulk of his research into the cognitive mechanisms of decision-making, he actually recommends that you “think less about those choices that you care a lot about.” According to Lehrer, the rational mind is really suited only to limited concrete choices, like deciding between two brands of car insurance. In situations where there are just a couple of relevant factors involved, the prefrontal cortex can weigh the comparative rewards of each and yield an excellent result. But there are so