Everyday, millions of people make bad decisions. It's human nature. We all do things that we don't think through, and afterwards, wish we hadn't done. But what can we do to not do these dumb things? What can we do to not be like most other humans and instead of making dumb decisions, making decisions that lead to the best possible outcome? Clearly there's more than one solution, but the one that stands out the most, is seeking help from many people. Why does seeking multiple opinions lead to better decision making?

One way seeking multiple opinions can help, is that different people have different viewpoints and see things in totally different ways. Asking multiple people that have different viewpoints can help you see the full picture. They help you see what risks you're taking with each decision, and what positives may come out of your decision. Then, they can help you weigh each decision out and make your choice. Say you're deciding what classes you're taking in college. Your counselor and parents can help you decide whether you want to take chemistry or physics first year. If you take chemistry then you get more credits, but you like physics much more. Which one would you pick? The more beneficial class, or the more enjoyable class? That's where asking for help comes in handy.

Furthermore, seeking multiple opinions buys you time to think for yourself. Although other people can help you make your decision, what you want is what's most important. Other people can help you lay out your options, and may try to talk you into a decision, but what you want is what's most important. Going back to the example from the first reason about which class you would take, I would take physics. College is the time to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life, and taking chemistry may help you make more money in the long run, but the amount of money you make is just a number if you don't enjoy what you're doing. If you know that you like physics much more than chemistry, then why waste your precious time with a class you don't even want to be in? That makes no sense. Make decisions for yourself, and your benefit when it comes to your career.

It is also the case that people are smarter in some areas than you, and can give you important insight that may lead to a change in your decision. If you are about to get brain surgery, and you know nothing about it, except that it's really dangerous and you don't want it, you'd rather live it out until you die. If you find the best brain surgeon there is, and they say they've dealt with much worse surgeries and their patients have walked out of the hospital fine after a week of recovery, wouldn't that effect your point of view? That would probably give you a new sense of hope, and make you want to go though witht the surgery right? But what if you also hear the day of the surgery that the rate of survival is low? Decision making is based off the knowledge that we have, but why don't we use our resources to find out more knowledge to imporve our decision? That's another thing to keep in mind when making important decisions. See the whole picture.

Ultimately, seeking multiple opinions can help you see the whole picture, but you have to make a decision based off what you think is right, and to make a decision off what you think is right. You should try to see the whole picture and know all the facts from either side of the decision you're making. Next time you're making an important decision, take all this into account, and make what you think is the best decision for your given situation.