The true warrior has come to understand that clarity of thinking in the face of uncertainty is naturally difficult for humankind, because our brain’s survival mechanism wants us to act quickly. We possess a very handy reservoir of ready-made answers and solutions floating around in our heads, to be utilized as possible answers. It turns out that human beings are fundamentally lazy and do not want to expend the necessary mental energy on the correct solution, when many possible solutions are quickly proffered by our minds. Our mind naturally wants to accept one of these ready-made solutions rather than do the work at calculating the correct one. The true warrior knows that this is one of the reasons why, when taking a test, you can answer incorrectly even when you have mastery of the subject matter. You read quickly and jump to the answer without completely reading the question, assuming you have it right. Even when you recheck, you continue to misread the question, as your mind doesn’t let you see the real words written there.

To be able to avoid this fast-thinking error takes real discipline, and the development of the habit of double checking, and in the case of the really big issues, actually getting a second opinion before acting or doing the pre-mortem exercise discussed in earlier entries.

So … the true warrior wants to stop and think, right now. They know that this will be hard but worth it. Of course, you won’t know if that’s the truth until the end of your life, when you will be able to look back and say, “Yes, that habit saved my bacon more than once!”

Where is this heuristic process at work the most problematic for us? When are we likely to make the biggest, most costly mistakes!

During high-risk, high-reward assessments!

Conversely, it turns out that when the odds are small, we will default incorrectly. We will take the safe bet at our own detrimental expense. This is all completely sdrawkcab. Backwards! The true warrior therefore uses that safe-bet feeling as a warning indicator that slow thinking is now required, and we must calculate the odds carefully, and compute the outcomes by engaging in rational thinking—rather than allowing the brain to make a snap decision and engage our emotional security blanket.

You are warriors, and if you know how to embrace risk management, and make effective decisions when facing extreme uncertainty, you will live long and prosper. So it has been written.