Delta4Embassy
Gold Member
The price of a happy ending can be bad decision-making say researchers
"Researchers say that the computational demand to try and factor in all experiences equally would be vast, so our brain constantly updates its internal 'logbook' as we go, with each new experience being condensed and then ranked against the previous few for context. Then, a new experience only has to be judged against the running total.
However, a 'temporal markdown' comes into play, meaning that the further back an experience, even if still quite recent, the less weight it carries in the next decision despite its relevant value; the most immediate experiences carry much more weight in decision-making than they should - meaning a recent 'happy ending' has a hugely disproportionate influence, say researchers.
They say that a wealth of information and experience "leaks" as a result of this cognitive mechanism, leading to false and delusional beliefs that cause wrong-headed and often short-term decision-making despite historical experience that should convince us of the contrary."
more at link
"Researchers say that the computational demand to try and factor in all experiences equally would be vast, so our brain constantly updates its internal 'logbook' as we go, with each new experience being condensed and then ranked against the previous few for context. Then, a new experience only has to be judged against the running total.
However, a 'temporal markdown' comes into play, meaning that the further back an experience, even if still quite recent, the less weight it carries in the next decision despite its relevant value; the most immediate experiences carry much more weight in decision-making than they should - meaning a recent 'happy ending' has a hugely disproportionate influence, say researchers.
They say that a wealth of information and experience "leaks" as a result of this cognitive mechanism, leading to false and delusional beliefs that cause wrong-headed and often short-term decision-making despite historical experience that should convince us of the contrary."
more at link
