When the all famous Charles Darwin couldn’t decide on whether or not to marry his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, he went and weighted every possible consequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His list went as the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Favor, Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Against, Cons:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the weight of the cons was much bigger, at the end of the paper, Darwin wrote: “Marry, The problem The decisions we make in life are a kind of prediction. For example, how much we’ll like something that we’ve never tried yet. Every prediction consists of thinking about two different things: What we know and what we don’t. So this is our attempt to formulate a theory that will take into consideration the experiences we’ve had from one part, and a guess about the future from another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of our stubborn issues involve overthinking. How early should we stop thinking about it depends really on the gap between what can we measure and what really matters!\u00a0If we have all the facts, free of all uncertainty, and we can directly assess whatever is important, then don\u2019t stop early. Think long and hard: the complexity and effort are appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that\u2019s almost never the case. If we have high uncertainty and limited data, then we should stop early by all means. If we don\u2019t have a clear read on how our work will be evaluated, and by whom, then it\u2019s not worth the extra time to make it perfect with respect to our own guess at what perfection might be. The greater the uncertainty, the bigger the gap between what we can measure and what matters, the more we should watch out for overthinking. The more you prefer simplicity, and the earlier you should stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To return to Darwin, his problem of deciding whether to propose could probably have been resolved based on just the first few pros and cons he identified, with the subsequent ones adding to the time and anxiety expended on the decision without necessarily aiding its resolution (and in all likelihood impeding it). What seemed to make up his mind was the thought that \u201cit is intolerable to think of spending one\u2019s whole life like a neuter bee, working, working, & nothing after all.\u201d Children and companionship\u2014the very first points he mentioned\u2014were precisely those that ultimately swayed him in favor of marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His mind made up to marry, Darwin immediately went on to overthink the timing. \u201cWhen? Soon or Late,\u201d he wrote above another list of pros and cons, considering everything from happiness to expenses to \u201cawkwardness\u201d to his long-standing desire to travel in a hot air balloon and\/or to Wales. But by the end of the page he resolved to \u201cNever mind, trust to chance\u201d\u2014and the result, within several months\u2019 time, was a proposal to Emma Wedgwood, the start of a fulfilling partnership and a happy family life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"