Ryan Hamilton

Our relationships with others and broader societal pressures influence our decision making, whether or not we're aware of it. Learn how we look to others for guidance in the most subtle of ways, and consider the many decisions we make to try to mimic or please those whom we perceive to be powerful.

For centuries, decision-making motivation was seen in the context of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. But recent scientific research reveals a more complex framework. Regulatory Focus theory shows that we operate from four motivational states, not two, and it reveals a richer and more accurate framework for understanding our decisions.

We don't make decisions in a vacuum. Before we even have the opportunity to decide our next action, before a stimulus even comes our way, we are mentally prepared to receive it. Our mindset, that stage of mental preparation, significantly affects how we perceive and process information and the decisions that result.

Can you influence the cognitive machinery that manufactures your decisions? Absolutely. Learn why and how our goals motivate us, which goals inspire our greatest effort, and how best to motivate others to help them meet their own goals - whether it's your sales team at work or your children at home.

What's going on in your cognitive machinery as you manufacture your decision? Delve into the two-system model of decision making: System 1 is your automatic and intuitive processor, your earlier system from an evolutionary perspective; and System 2 is the flexible, powerful serial processor that you think of as "you."

Even when manufacturing the seemingly simplest of decisions, our control panel can steer us in the wrong direction. Learn why our cognitive machinery often over-weights attributes, considers information that really has no bearing on the decision at hand, and sometimes makes short-term evaluations that won't serve us well later.

Research shows that when evaluating options, we tend to place more importance on attributes we understand and less importance on those we don't - without considering relevance to the decision at hand. Learn how to better evaluate the choices in front of you and to avoid as many poor-decision pitfalls as possible.

Can subliminal messages cause us to make decisions almost against our will? Although a major hoax perpetrated on a panicked public caused us to believe just that for a while, science has demonstrated that we have more control than that - but there is still reason to be wary. Learn about the scientifically proven ways in which we are subtly influenced by subliminal messages and environmental cues.

You might never have thought to blame a bad decision on your ancestors' development millennia ago, but there just might be reason to. Learn about the often surprising and unexpected ways in which evolutionary drives - hidden beneath the surface of our control panel - guide our decision processes even today, for better or for worse.

Over millennia, philosophers, theologians, and mathematicians have all weighed in on the topic, and in recent centuries, economists, psychologists, and sociologists have joined the investigation. People have always been fascinated by how the mind works. We also have a desire to learn from our mistakes, but in order to do so, it’s important to understand how we came to the decision that led to those mistakes. From the Trojans’ acceptance of that...