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The Unconscious Mind: A Great Decision Maker

Location: Blogs David Sunfellow Words of Wisdom
Posted by: David Sunfellow	2/22/2006 12:00 AM
EXCERPT: Snap judgments about people and places can be remarkably accurate, and there is no substitute for simple logic and reflection in determining questions like which alarm clock or cellphone is the best value. But many more important decisions -- choosing the right apartment, the optimal house, the best vacation -- turn on such a bewildering swarm of facts that people often throw up their hands and put the whole thing temporarily out of mind. And new research suggests that this may be a rewarding strategy. In a series of experiments reported last week in the journal Science, a team of Dutch psychologists found that people struggling to make complex decisions did best when they were distracted and were not able to think consciously about the choice at all. The research not only backs up the common advice to "sleep on it" when facing difficult choices, but it also suggests that the unconscious brain can actively reason as well as produce weird dreams and Freudian slips... Psychologists have known for years that people process an enormous amount of information unconsciously... But the new report suggests that people take this wealth of under-the-radar information, combine it with deliberately studied facts and impressions and then make astute judgments that they would not otherwise form. ... Source: THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND: A GREAT DECISION MAKER By Benedict Carey New York Times February 21, 2006 Additional Information: 'SLEEPING ON IT' BEST FOR COMPLEX DECISIONS By Gaia Vince New Scientist February 16, 2006

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