Alex Hutchinson

I think we have an intuition about that, right? You look back and you say, boy, I wish I'd asked her to dance more likely than you are to be worrying about, oh, I can't believe I asked her to dance and she said no. The things we did that didn't turn out don't generally stick with us as much as the things that might have been.

The scientists who study decision theory and who try to understand what is the optimal way of making decisions They have an approach. It's called the upper confidence bound algorithm, which is a complicated name. But the basic advice that they come up with based on the mathematics is that you should make decisions based on what has the best realistic upside.

The scientists who study decision theory and who try to understand what is the optimal way of making decisions They have an approach. It's called the upper confidence bound algorithm, which is a complicated name. But the basic advice that they come up with based on the mathematics is that you should make decisions based on what has the best realistic upside.

The scientists who study decision theory and who try to understand what is the optimal way of making decisions They have an approach. It's called the upper confidence bound algorithm, which is a complicated name. But the basic advice that they come up with based on the mathematics is that you should make decisions based on what has the best realistic upside.

What has the chance of turning out really well? If you're choosing between a job that's stable but kind of boring and not what you're interested in, Versus the job that maybe is a little more uncertain, maybe has a lower starting salary, but has a pathway towards your dream job. Their advice is, you know, all else being equal, take a chance on the job that has the bigger upside. Because...

What has the chance of turning out really well? If you're choosing between a job that's stable but kind of boring and not what you're interested in, Versus the job that maybe is a little more uncertain, maybe has a lower starting salary, but has a pathway towards your dream job. Their advice is, you know, all else being equal, take a chance on the job that has the bigger upside. Because...

What has the chance of turning out really well? If you're choosing between a job that's stable but kind of boring and not what you're interested in, Versus the job that maybe is a little more uncertain, maybe has a lower starting salary, but has a pathway towards your dream job. Their advice is, you know, all else being equal, take a chance on the job that has the bigger upside. Because...

Again, to your point, when you're sitting on your deathbed, or even a year or five years from now, you're going to look back and say, boy, I'm glad I took a chance on something that had a great possibility of paying off, even if it didn't work out, compared to never knowing whether it might have worked out.

Again, to your point, when you're sitting on your deathbed, or even a year or five years from now, you're going to look back and say, boy, I'm glad I took a chance on something that had a great possibility of paying off, even if it didn't work out, compared to never knowing whether it might have worked out.

Again, to your point, when you're sitting on your deathbed, or even a year or five years from now, you're going to look back and say, boy, I'm glad I took a chance on something that had a great possibility of paying off, even if it didn't work out, compared to never knowing whether it might have worked out.

That's the human condition. We can't split ourselves in two and know how both options would have turned out. So I think the advice is to choose optimistically, to go for the thing that you think will be best, recognizing that A, it might not turn out, and B, you'll never know if you had chosen the other path. Maybe it would have turned out to be great, but this is the human condition.

That's the human condition. We can't split ourselves in two and know how both options would have turned out. So I think the advice is to choose optimistically, to go for the thing that you think will be best, recognizing that A, it might not turn out, and B, you'll never know if you had chosen the other path. Maybe it would have turned out to be great, but this is the human condition.

That's the human condition. We can't split ourselves in two and know how both options would have turned out. So I think the advice is to choose optimistically, to go for the thing that you think will be best, recognizing that A, it might not turn out, and B, you'll never know if you had chosen the other path. Maybe it would have turned out to be great, but this is the human condition.

If we want to think in terms of minimizing regret, which believe it or not, mathematicians have a definition of regret, which is the difference between basically what you got and what you could have got if you had a crystal ball and have been able to make perfect decisions. To minimize regret, you do best if you choose optimistically, if you're more willing to take a chance.

If we want to think in terms of minimizing regret, which believe it or not, mathematicians have a definition of regret, which is the difference between basically what you got and what you could have got if you had a crystal ball and have been able to make perfect decisions. To minimize regret, you do best if you choose optimistically, if you're more willing to take a chance.

If we want to think in terms of minimizing regret, which believe it or not, mathematicians have a definition of regret, which is the difference between basically what you got and what you could have got if you had a crystal ball and have been able to make perfect decisions. To minimize regret, you do best if you choose optimistically, if you're more willing to take a chance.

Not a reckless chance, not a, oh, if I invest all my money in lottery tickets, there's a chance I might be a billionaire. That's not a good decision. But when there's a realistic chance of a good upside, if you're in a position that you can make that gamble without exposing yourself to terrible problems, it's probably a good idea to give it a shot.

Not a reckless chance, not a, oh, if I invest all my money in lottery tickets, there's a chance I might be a billionaire. That's not a good decision. But when there's a realistic chance of a good upside, if you're in a position that you can make that gamble without exposing yourself to terrible problems, it's probably a good idea to give it a shot.

Not a reckless chance, not a, oh, if I invest all my money in lottery tickets, there's a chance I might be a billionaire. That's not a good decision. But when there's a realistic chance of a good upside, if you're in a position that you can make that gamble without exposing yourself to terrible problems, it's probably a good idea to give it a shot.

Yeah, and we will always have those regrets. It would be impossible to live a life with none of those regrets. But boy, if you can try out some of those things after all, I think in general, you're happy you did, even if it puts you through a little bit of awkwardness or some uncertainty in the moment.