Decision making - gut feeling, normal, and somatic markers
“People who make life or death choices often do so with seemingly no process at all.
One fairly typical story was that of a fireman who responded to a routine kitchen fire. While they were spraying water on the fire, the lieutenant gets a bad feeling and orders everybody out. Seconds later the floor collapsed. If not for his order they would have been killed, or at least very seriously injured.
The fireman attributed his life saving “gut” decision to a natural “6th sense” he had about fires. However, during subsequent interviews, some cues became apparent. The fire was too hot for a kitchen fire, it wasn’t responding to the water hose and it wasn’t noisy – all of these things were out of place. Something felt wrong because the situation violated the fireman’s conception of what was normal based on his experience with previous kitchen fires.
His”6th Sense” wasn’t innate, it was learned. The Fireman’s example above is supported by scientific evidence. Renowned neurologist Antonio Damasio believes that we store important experiences as somatic markers in the brain which are regulated by the amygdala, an area of the brain involved in both emotions and memory.
In other words, when something violates our conception of what’s normal we really do have a “gut feeling.” It is through experience and learning that we build our conceptions. In effect, many of our lightning fast impulses are developed over time. That’s why top athletes need to train hard for years.
Make Decisions: Like anything else, decision makers get better with practice. The more decisions you make, the better more proficient you’ll be.
Make Mistakes: While failure is difficult, it’s through experience that we build up the somatic markers that enable us to recognize situations quickly and react to them”
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