Life is full of choices, some inconsequential, some really significant. But sometimes it can be hard to make the correct one. What are the obstacles that stand between us and a good outcome? Some of us just find it hard to decide. Alice Boyes, writing for Harvard Business Review, tells us this can be connected to perfectionism, where people attempt to find a perfect solution to any problem and are unable to move forward when they can't find one. It might seem that being indecisive would stop us making the right decision, but in fact it could actually help us make the correct ones.

生活充满了选择，有些无关紧要，有些却意义重大。 但有时很难做出正确的选择。 我们与良好结果之间的障碍是什么？我们中的一些人只是觉得很难做出决定。 为哈佛商业评论撰稿的爱丽丝博伊斯告诉我们，这可能与完美主义有关，人们试图为任何问题找到完美的解决方案，但当他们找不到时就无法前进。 犹豫不决似乎会阻止我们做出正确的决定，但实际上它可以帮助我们做出正确的决定。

Susan Krauss in Psychology Today reminds us that people often make bad decisions because they base them on preconceptions rather than the context in which things happen. She highlights a paper by researcher Iris Schneider which finds that indecisive people are more likely to look at different perspectives and use them to come to a better decision. So, it could be that a more significant barrier to making the best choice is our cognitive biases.

Susan Krauss 在 Psychology Today 中提醒我们，人们经常会做出错误的决定，因为他们是基于先入之见而不是事情发生的背景。 她强调了研究员 Iris Schneider 的一篇论文，该论文发现优柔寡断的人更有可能看待不同的观点并利用它们做出更好的决定。 因此，做出最佳选择的一个更重要的障碍可能是我们的认知偏见。

David Robson, speaking to the BBC's Crowd Science, tells us that intelligence can sometimes stop people making the right decision. People sometimes use intelligence to invent justifications for irrational beliefs. He believes that humility is key to making a good decision. People who can accept that they might be wrong are more likely to consider different viewpoints. He is backed up on this by Jeff Bezos. Tech CEO Jason Fried recalls the Amazon founder saying how the people who were right a lot of the time were the people who often changed their minds. So, maybe rather than indecision, it might be intelligence and decisiveness, backed up by our biases that actually stop us making good choices. While humility and indecisiveness could help us pick the best option.

David Robson 在接受 BBC 大众科学采访时告诉我们，智慧有时会阻止人们做出正确的决定。 人们有时会使用智慧来为非理性信念辩护。 他认为谦逊是做出正确决定的关键。 能够接受自己可能犯错的人更有可能考虑不同的观点。 杰夫·贝索斯 (Jeff Bezos) 对此表示支持。 Tech CEO Jason Fried 回忆说，亚马逊创始人曾说过，那些在很多时候都是对的人往往是经常改变主意的人。因此，也许不是优柔寡断，而是智慧和果断，加上我们的偏见实际上阻止了我们做出正确的选择。 谦逊和优柔寡断可以帮助我们做出最佳选择。

词汇表

choice 选择
inconsequential 无关紧要的
significant 重要的
good outcome 好的结果
decide 作决定
perfectionism 完美主义
perfect solution 完美的解决办法
indecisive 犹豫不决的
preconception 先入之见，成见
perspective （思考问题的）角度，观点
come to a decision 作出一个决定
barrier 障碍
cognitive bias 认知偏差
justification 辩解，正当理由
irrational belief 非理性的看法
humility 谦逊
change one's mind 改变主意
indecisiveness 犹豫不决