Decision by Distortion

Watch how most decisions are actually made. Not by gathering facts and weighing them — but by quietly bending the facts until one option glows.

The sequence is backwards from what we admit. First the heart chooses. Then the mind, employed as the heart's lawyer, builds the case: emphasizing this fact, discounting that one, rediscovering forgotten virtues in the favourite and fresh flaws in the rival. The verdict was written before the trial.

Do not be too ashamed of this — it is the standard equipment. Be warned by it. The feeling of "careful deliberation" is no guarantee that any deliberation occurred.

The practical defence: decide the criteria before you meet the options. Write what would matter — the price, the distance, the terms — while you are still indifferent. Then hold the meeting. A scale bought after seeing the goods will always be adjusted to the goods.