News tagged with choice
Our unconscious brain makes the best decisions possible
Researchers at the University of Rochester have shown that the human brain—once thought to be a seriously flawed decision maker—is actually hard-wired to allow us to make the best decisions possible with the information we ...
Medicine & Health / Medical research
Dec 24, 2008 |
4.7 / 5 (32) |
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Why Things Become Unpopular
(PhysOrg.com) -- "Why is everybody suddenly wearing those new sandals and listening to that new band? It's so trendy!" A recent study has investigated this sentiment in order to understand why some cultural ...
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Jun 04, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (30) |
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'Meat' the enemy: New food for thought from noted biochemist
(PhysOrg.com) -- Pat Brown hates animals. On your plate, that is. And he's going to do something about it.
Jul 12, 2010 |
3.9 / 5 (26) |
51
Opposites attract -- how genetics influences humans to choose their mates
New light has been thrown on how humans choose their partners, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today. Professor Maria da Graça Bicalho, head of the Immunogenetics and ...
May 25, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (17) |
3
New compound defeats drug-resistant bacteria
It's no wonder that medicine's effort to combat bacterial infections is often described as an arms race. When new drugs are developed to combat infections, the bacterial target invariably comes up with a deterrent.
Nov 28, 2011 |
4.9 / 5 (14) |
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Family planning a major environmental impact
Some people who are serious about wanting to reduce their "carbon footprint" on the Earth have one choice available to them that may yield a large long-term benefit - have one less child.
Jul 31, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (15) |
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Unnatural selection: Birth control pills may alter choice of partners
There is no doubt that modern contraception has enabled women to have unprecedented control over their own fertility. However, is it possible that the use of oral contraceptives is interfering with a woman's ability to choose, ...
Oct 07, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (14) |
21
It was brawn over beauty in human mating competition
(PhysOrg.com) -- Male physical competition, not attraction, was central in winning mates among human ancestors, according to a Penn State anthropologist.
May 13, 2010 |
3.6 / 5 (13) |
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Alternate-Day Fasting Shows Promise for Obese Dieters
(PhysOrg.com) -- Restricting daily calorie intake is a common plan to help obese and overweight people slim down to healthier weights. But the regime requires a daily 15 to 40 percent calorie reduction, which makes sticking ...
Nov 04, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (9) |
1
Study shows real partners are no match for ideal mate
Our ideal image of the perfect partner differs greatly from our real-life partner, according to new research from the University of Sheffield and the University of Montpellier in France. The research found that our actual ...
Oct 01, 2010 |
4.8 / 5 (8) |
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New Insight Into How Bees See
New research from Monash University bee researcher Adrian Dyer could lead to improved artificial intelligence systems and computer programs for facial recognition.
Biology /
Jan 23, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (8) |
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Allure of avatar to unlock secrets of sex
(PhysOrg.com) -- There's more to what makes a man or woman attractive than mere shape or weight, but what else do we take into account when we make that judgement?
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
May 14, 2010 |
3.8 / 5 (9) |
2
Strangers influence our dating preferences
Many people like to think they have discriminating tastes when it comes to romantic interests. An Indiana University study, however, found that men and women are greatly influenced not only by what their friends think of ...
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Jun 07, 2010 |
4.3 / 5 (8) |
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Great apes make sophisticated decisions
Chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos make more sophisticated decisions than was previously thought. Great apes weigh their chances of success, based on what they know and the likelihood to succeed when guessing, ...
Dec 29, 2011 |
5 / 5 (6) |
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Why humans believe that better things come to those who wait
New research reveals a brain circuit that seems to underlie the ability of humans to resist instant gratification and delay reward for months, or even years, in order to earn a better payoff. The study, published by Cell ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Apr 14, 2010 |
4 / 5 (7) |
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Choice
Choice consists of the mental process of judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one of them. While a choice can be made between imagined options ("what would I do if ...?"), often a choice is made between real options, and followed by the corresponding action. For example, a route for a journey is chosen based on the preference of arriving at a given destination as soon as possible. The preferred (and therefore chosen) route is then derived from information about how long each of the possible routes take. This can be done by a route planner. If the preference is more complex, such as involving the scenery of the route, cognition and feeling are more intertwined, and the choice is less easy to delegate to a computer program or assistant.
More complex examples (often decisions that affect what a person thinks or their core beliefs) include choosing a lifestyle, religious affiliation, or political position.
Most people regard having choices as a good thing, though a severely limited or artificially restricted choice can lead to discomfort with choosing and possibly, an unsatisfactory outcome. In contrast, unlimited choice may lead to confusion, regret of the alternatives not taken, and indifference in an unstructured existence; and the illusion that choosing an object or a course leads necessarily to control of that object or course can cause psychological problems.
For more information about Choice, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
