What leads to bad decisions?

From What leads to bad decisions? Quora A2A

Thanks for the A2A. Here are some possible contributing factors to “bad decisions:”

- Stupidity.

- Arrogance or overconfidence.

- Willful ignorance (resistance to information, approaches, practices or knowledge that would improve decisions).

- Poor impulse control (lack of self-discipline).

- Mental illness.

- Reflexive conformance (groupthink, tribalism, submission to peer pressure, blind faith, etc.).

- Reflexive nonconformance (teenage rebellion, passive-aggressive habits, criminal inclinations, disregard for social norms, general disaffection, etc.)

- Lack of critical thinking skills.

- Apathy or laziness (lack of motivation to make more skillful decisions).

- Stubbornness or inflexibility.

- Lack of situational awareness.

- Egotism or self-centeredness.

- Substance abuse or careless self-medication.

- High tolerance for cognitive dissonance.

- Being governed by any strong, unmanaged, overwhelming emotion (fear, anxiety, lust, excitement, grief, loss, shame, etc.).

- Codependent relationships and reflexes (for example, always trying to be nice or compliant when someone else is being unreasonably demanding).

- Poor self-care habits (not getting adequate sleep, exercise, nutrition, mental stimulation, etc.)

- Extreme hormone cycles, excesses or deficiencies.

- Lack of experience in a given situation combined with a lack of caution or willingness to seek guidance from someone more experienced.

- Addiction to risky or impulsive behaviors.

- Clinical depression.

- Consumerist external dependency and insecurity (i.e. never looking inward for answers, but always looking to others for a commoditized version of the solution).

- Low self-esteem or negative self-talk.

- Unresolved issues from childhood that require therapeutic intervention.

- Lack of self-awareness or self-knowledge.

- Being deliberately misinformed or manipulated, and not realizing this until it’s too late (for example, what has happened to tobacco users and Nestle baby formula users in the past, and what is happening to Tea Party members and Teflon users in the present).

- Youth (i.e. prefrontal cortex development, general myelination, synaptic pruning, etc.).

- Stress (physical, emotional, relational, etc.)

- Being surrounded (and/or in close relationships with) folks who suffer from a preponderance of any of the above-mentioned factors.

- Becoming socially isolated for long periods of time.

My 2 cents.

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