In ancient times, and also still today in some places, leaders of countries, such as presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, and even the pharaohs of achient Egypt have all had advisers that they would consult to be sure they were making the best decision for their people. But these leaders would almost never have only one adviser, but more often than not they would have several in order to make sure they were doing what was right. But why would some of these leaders insist that they speak to multiple trusted advisers before they made any important decisions? I think some of the reasons people, not solely world leaders, sometimes ask for advice from multiple trustworthy people before making a hard decision is because seeking multiple opinions can help you feel better about your decision to know that other people agree with you, and also because getting multiple opinions will increase the probability of one of those opinions being right.

I believe the main reason that people sometimes ask for multiple peices of advice before making hard decisions is because often makes you feel more confident in your choice to know more than one person believes what you are doing is right. For instance, if the President thinks that this is the best time for their country to go to war, but they don't know if any of the people they rule over, or even the rest of the government, thinks the same way, it would almost certainly make the president feel less confident in their decision than if they knew what people thought about their decision, and they might not do as good a job running the country because they might stress about it. But if they consulted many advisers before making that vital decision, the advisers might agree with the president, resulting in the president feeling more confident with their decision and ultimately leading the country better than if they just went with what one person said and didn't ask multiple people for advice first.

Another reason people might go to more than one person for advice before making a decision is because having more opinions increases the probability that one or more of the people you go to for advice might have the right idea as to what you should do. For example, if I'm not sure what college I want to attend, and I ask one friend where I should go, they might say "George Mason" as a suggestion. But if George Mason is not in fact the best college for me, even though the person I asked was trying to help, that one opinion could sway me to go there anyway and not have the best experience. But yet if I go to ten people to advice, including the person who suggested George Mason, they might be the only one who would say that and maybe five of the other people I asked might say Virginia Tech, and I would decide to go to Virginia Tech instead of to George Mason, and I would overall be happier and maybe even get better grades. Then I would be more successful because I went to multiple people before I made a decision that could affect my entire life. So therefore even though one person still has a chance to give valid advice, it is safer to talk to multiple people because it increases the chances of making a bad decision.

In my experience, seeking multiple opinions before making a hard decision can be beneficial because of the reasons stated above. When I was in second grade, I passed the test to be admitted into the AAP (Advanced Academics Program) in my school. My best friend was also accepted, and wanted me to go to AAP with her, but I didnt really want to go into AAP. I told my parents this, and they agreed it would be best for me to stay in the normal class for on more year. Since I got my parents' opinions, I also felt more secure staying out of the advanced program even though my friend wanted me to do the opposite and go into the program. And so in third grade, I was not in AAP with my best friend, but nonetheless, I was happy and met many new friends in the normal class, some of whom are still my friends today. When I went into fourth grade, however, I decided that I wanted to go into the AAP program. Since I had already gotten in a year before, I was not required to retake the test and went in smoothly to the advanced program. In this example, I sought three opinions (my parents and my best friend) in order to make a decision, but if I had taken my friend's advice alone, I would have gone into AAP in third grade and not have been as happy as I was in the regular class. This shows clearly that it is better to seek multiple opinions instead of just one. The impact of asking people to help you make a decision can be big, like a country deciding to go to war, or small, like a third grader choosing if they want to go into the advanced program in school, but nonetheless, asking for other people's opinions instead of just one person's opinion can make a difference in someone's life, whether big or small.

Of course, there are many other reasons one might want to seek multiple opinions and pieces of advice instead of just one, but these are the two main ones that I think really make it worthwhile to ask for advice from multiple people instead of making decisions with only one piece of advice from one person. The key thing that all of these examples have shown is that it is better to seek multiple opinions from multiple different people than to only get advice from one. This is ultimately because asking multiple people for advice makes you feel better about the decisions you make and also increases the chances that one or more of the people you consulted with gave you the right advice at the right time to empower you do what is right for you (or perhaps what is right for the country you happen to be in charge of!).