HOW to Make Better Decisions (BBC2, Tuesday of last week) is a title to attract all those of us who scrape a meagre living trying to persuade everyone that the time to choose is Now, particularly since it offered tips on persuading others to make the decisions we wish them to make.
How would you decide whether to offer a particular candidate a job? Would you go by his or her CV, previous experience, engaging manner? The most significant factor, as demonstrated by a disturbing psychological experiment, is none of these — but rather whether you are feeling warm or cold. As the interviewers were led to the interview, the researcher casually made sure that they carried a plastic cup. In nearly every case, if it contained a hot drink, they awarded the job; if iced water, they turned the candidate down.
A second example: candidates are shown photos of two members of the opposite sex, asked to choose which is the more attractive, and, when the unsuccessful photo is discarded and the successful is pushed over to them, must explain their choice — which they did with moving eloquence.
But, by means of a basic card trick, the photos are switched, so the image about which the candidate is waxing lyrical is, in fact, the one they just rejected. What counts is not logical reasoning: it is the refusal to admit we could be wrong.
Experiments suggested that as the risk becomes greater, most of us make bolder and bolder decisions. We are cautious when the stakes are low; but, the more life-or-death a decision becomes, the keener we are to gamble. We base most decisions on emotions — especially pride — and only a few of us temper those emotions with rational thought.
Wonderland: The end-of-the-world bus tour (BBC2, Wednesday of last week) followed a coachload of people who seemed to decide entirely with their hearts and not their heads. They were visiting sites in the Holy Land, not as a pilgrimage to places hallowed by past events but to spy out the land, as they confidently expect the Rapture to take place soon, when they will be whisked away to the New Jerusalem.
To hasten this, they support Israel unequivocally, especially its right to military conquest over the lands of the infidel. Those not chosen by God will burn in the flames of hell. History and culture count for nothing, in comparison with one bizarre, literal exposition of a few obscure scriptural verses.
As always, the mystery about such people is how to relate their hateful, warmongering prejudices to their transparent generosity and friendliness. Neither well-informed nor profound, this documentary simply presented the case, leaving us to consider.
Life in Cold Blood (BBC1, Mondays), David Attenborough’s latest revelation of our planet’s natural history, lifts the lid on reptiles. Last week’s episode told us all about amphibians. Four hundred million years ago, the first backboned animals left the water to live on land — and, in the form of toads, lizards, and salamanders, they are still here, characterised by moist, slimy skin.
Sir David draws us in with his infectious enthusiasm and stunning photography. For my taste, though, there is far too much sex and violence. |
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