Why?
What surprises me most is not “how” or “why” humans in general and smart people in specific tend to make stupid mistakes repeatedly without remorse, but rather how they formulate irrational explanations and try hard to convince themselves and others of the incomprehensible. Why? Simply because almost all of us are above average, and we believe that we know everything. When we make mistakes, we tend to blame the wrong cause, point to bad luck, and curse the unknown. The fact is none of these things are true.
“When we make mistakes, we tend to blame the wrong cause, point to bad luck, and curse the unknown. The matter of fact is that all this is gibberish and none of it is true.”
The Fantasy of Hope
Our species relies heavily on hope. Hope is a crucial element in keeping our engine moving. Imagine that we were to live in a life cycle where we know the exact moment of our death. I bet none of us will do anything other than wait in despair for that moment to come, no matter how far in the future this moment is. This hope of an extra day allows us to keep moving and exploring. Nonetheless, hope is not a strategy; it is more of a catalyst to keep us looking into the bright side of things. In other words, our decisions should not be based on hope but rather be derived from critical thinking.
The fantasy of hope reminds me of a piece of humor I once heard. During a major flood event, a villager got caught by rising floodwaters around his house. A rescue team scanning the area on a raft boat offered the villager help. “How can we help you, sir” the officer yelled. “No worries, all good here” replied the villager, “God will help me” he added.
The situation worsened, and the rising water forced the villager into his house. At that moment, the rescue team intervened and requested the villager to jump into their raft boat. “No worries, all good here, God will help me” the villager retorted. Soon after, the gushing water flooded the house and forced the villager to climb on the roof of his house. At that point, a military helicopter approached and offered to pull him up. “That’s all right” he reiterated. “God will save me.”
Finally, the water swept the villager to his death. “Lord” he protested, “I thought you would help me” he added. “What do you mean?” the Lord replied, “I sent a raft boat twice and a helicopter, and you turned them all down.”
The moral of this story can be summarized by paraphrasing the old theological teaching: “God helps those who help themselves.”
The Three Anchors
Everyone’s action(s) are rendered by three anchors: One’s limitations, Consequence(s) of one’s action(s), and risks arising from the chaotic world. We must admit that we are limited, and we know much less than we think. On top of that, if we are all above average, how on earth was the average ever calculated? Our limitations constitute the first anchor that hinders our lives.
Conversely, every action we do has one of three consequences: Positive, Negative, or Neutral. Because some consequences are irreversible and can shape our lives forever, this Action/Consequence duo constitutes another anchor we must manage.
Finally, we live in a chaotic world, best described by the Chaos Theory (Edward Lorenz). Chaos describes the dynamics of our lives and the risks associated with the ever-changing environment. Here we are not just talking about the visible, but also (and most importantly) the non-obvious. Chaos constitutes the third anchor.
The 4 Spaces of the Human Behavior
The answer to why smart people do stupid things primarily lies in the 4-Spaces (4S) of the Human Behavior DNA. The 4S Model suggests that Human Behavior is highly consumed by various aspects classified into four dominant spaces: Competence, Physical, Psychological, and Social/Organizational, and that no Space works in isolation from the others. The 4S Model provides an excellent reminder to think about the different drivers of risky behavior at personal and organizational levels.
At first glance, it appears that we are completely in control of our decision-making process. Nonetheless, the decision itself is no more than the tip of the iceberg. What lies underneath are mostly the unforeseen influential factors affecting the analysis leading to the decision. This analysis gets embroiled in complexity within the 4 Spaces of Human Behavior. Unless one understands what lies underneath and how to navigate the four spaces, they remain captive to erroneous beliefs leading to unfavorable consequences. Through critical thinking (and not intelligence), we can achieve the required level of awareness for sound decision-making.
Acknowledging, Understanding, and Learning
With the above said, one might wonder how to achieve the required level of critical thinking. The simple answer is by acknowledging, understanding, and learning. Acknowledging our limitations is the first step towards redemption. We must then understand the factors at play that impact our decision-making process. Finally, we learn how to combat or avoid these influences.
The good thing is that by acknowledging the three anchors and knowing how to control our behavior within the four influential Spaces, we can make more rational and objective decisions and consequently safe ones. We don’t need to be intelligent to do so. Instead, we need to be critical thinkers. Critical thinking analyzes facts to make a confident judgment away from fallacies, biases, and other undesirable influential factors. It is the process of stepping back and analyzing from a 360 degrees perspective.
“Critical thinking is the process of analyzing facts to make a certain judgment away from fallacies, biases, and other undesirable influential factors. It is the process of stepping back and analyzing from a 360 degrees perspective.”
