The Optionality Fallacy
🧠 Psych - 120 / 200
Hello,
Hope you are fine week :)
I would like to tell you about The Optionality Fallacy.
“What the heck is this concept of Anti-Fragile Life?”
What is it?
YOUR ability to exercise the most favorable option that will advance your goals without predictable knowledge that would allow you to make an informed decision. [1]
Examples -
“Once we’ve committed to a course of action, we stop thinking about alternatives. Or, if we do bother to think about them, we think about how lousy they are compared to our clearly superior and awesome choice”, says Heidi Grant Halvorson. [1]
Where does it occur?
In our experience of life, we are provided with so many options to live a desired lifestyle.
Nassim Taleb, author of Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder argues that prediction is impossible in the modern world & hence the need to maximise optionality.
Instead of trying to predict what is going to happen, position yourself in such a way that you have optionality.
He explains, “If you “have optionality,” you don’t have much need for what is commonly called intelligence, knowledge, insight, skills, and these complicated things that take place in our brain cells.
For you don’t have to be right that often. All you need is the wisdom to not do unintelligent things to hurt yourself (some acts of omission) and recognize favorable outcomes when they occur.”
Why do I need to know?
The problem is that we tend to assume optionality is built by keeping as many doors open for as long as possible; by staying on the main road for as far as can go instead of taking the risk of making a wrong turn.
The conventional path of accumulating optionality gives you reassuring but fragile options. In contrast, the best options—which involve lots of experimenting and tinkering—may feel riskier in the short term but will help you thrive through uncertainty. [2]
References & Studies: -
https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/the-optionality-trap-why-keeping-your-options-open-can-be-a-bad-idea
https://nesslabs.com/optionality-fallacy
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