Thinking Fast And Thinking Slow Ensayo Artículo

Thinking fast and thinking slow: how our minds make us behave sustainably

In the first of a three part series, Joe Arvai argues that understanding the way we make decisions can help nudge us intomaking sustainable choices

The purchasing decisions we make daily are increasingly influenced by concerns beyond cost. More so now than ever the environmental, ethical and social aspects impact ourdecision making.
In the face of such complexity, a widely held perspective on decision making suggests that people carefully sort through information about the different options that are availableto them, and make choices that lead to maximum overall benefit.
However, recent insights in behavioral decision research, contradict this view. We're beginning to understand that many of our decisions— especially those for which we lack experience — are "constructive" in nature. On the one hand, how people think and feel about options is highly dependent upon how they are presented to them. Onthe other, the choices people make, and the preferences they express, are largely at the mercy of a broad array of mental shortcuts that are routinely applied during decision making. The Nobel laureateDaniel Kahneman's recent book — Thinking, Fast and slow — neatly summarizes these concepts.
When my students and clients learn about the constructive nature of decision-making, many of them think ofit as a "bad news" story. On some levels, it is. The fact that our decisions tend to be constructive explains why many of us are so easily swayed by marketing campaigns in support of products andsocial change initiatives (many of which, upon reflection, we don't need or care for).
But, the other side of this story is positive. The fact that decisions are constructed is what makes it possible toimprove both the quality of the decision making processes and, in some instances, the quality of the outcomes.
For many of the decisions we face, improving the decision-making process involves four...