Whether you’re a pilot responsible for a split-second decision that may cost hundreds of lives or merely shopping for a new couch, the way your brain makes the decision is a fascinating process. And you do it thousands of times a day, without even realising it: what to wear, what to eat, where to go, who to call or which magazine to read. It’s a constant, inescapable process.
Jonah Lehrer’s The Decisive Moment examines exactly how the brain comes to a decision, drawing on current and historical neuroscience, psychology and philosophy to explain why and how we make up our minds.
It address two key questions: how the human mind makes decisions and how we can use this information to make better decisions. Lehrer discusses the neurological basis of decisions, such as the role of the prefrontal cortex, and illustrates his ideas with a large number of mostly entertaining anecdotes about decision-making.
These stories feature a cast of poker players, pilots, footballers, soldiers and scientists, making decisions varying from the mundane to the meaningful.
One of the most memorable stories recounts the experience of a radar operator, Michael Riley, during the first Gulf War. He was faced with the following problem: a blip appears on his radar, moving at a speed and position indicating it could have been either a missile capable of killing hundreds of sailors or an allied fighter-jet. Although the radar was incapable of distinguishing between a plane or a missile, there was something about the way the blip moved that made Riley suspicious. With seconds to make a decision, he chose to shoot the target down.
How could Riley have known? Lehrer uses this example to illustrate how dopamine works in the unconscious process of decision-making: Riley made the correct choice – the blip was a missile – and he had been able to make the right choice because his dopamine neurons were able to help distinguish subtle differences that his conscious mind could not.
This leads to the conclusion of the book, Lehrer’s advice: make your decisions with your ‘emotions’ if you are already experienced with the subject, but make more considered, rational decisions in unfamiliar areas. Although he belabours some points, particularly how wrong people are about the “conflict between emotion and reason” in the mind, The Decisive Moment is an informative and entertaining read – should you decide to read it.
