International Law

To think or Not to think

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Interesting post over at the Psychology Today blogs, by Art Markman, about making decisions based on gut feel instead of reason:

"For the past eight years, much has been made of President Bush's tendency to make decisions from his gut.

This issue has hit the news again recently, because John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as a running made also seems to have come from the gut without careful thought.

You would think that for important decisions-like who might be the person who is a heartbeat away from the Presidency-that someone would think about them carefully.

So, what is going on here?"

Markman has an interesting conclusion, which we will get to.  But, he states that there is research supporting the claim that "interesting thing is that some decisions can be made quite well if they are made quickly."

I think there is some merit to this, but only if qualified that the decision maker is highly experienced in making these type of decisions.

The first time or even fourth time franchise prospective doesn't qualify.  There simply isn't enough experience to make these decisions without competent and skeptical help.

Making a decision to buy a franchise from the gut, for most people, will usually result in a financial disaster.

So what about McCain's choice for VP?

Markman concludes:

"Where does the selection of a Vice-President fit in?

Well, on the one hand, John McCain was clearly swayed by Sarah Palin's personality-something that can be evaluated quickly.

Judging from the crowds flocking to Palin's speeches, he was right about the appeal of her personality as well.

In addition, she clearly had stances on issues that fit with a message that McCain wanted to transmit to voters.

Whether Palin has the other qualifications needed to be Vice President has yet to be determined. That is where a little more thought beforehand would have been useful."

Probably a good idea not to be swayed by the franchisor's salesperson who has been selected to have Palin like charisma also!

Full post as published by Misleading Advertising Law on September 16, 2008 (boomark / email).