How Do We Made Decisions?

I recently discovered Jonathan Haidt, Virginia social-psychologist and author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. A man who starts a book about weighty topics such as happiness, truth, and wisdom naturally brings a smile to a man’s face when, on page 5, he makes a point about the division between the mind and the body by quoting Montaigne’s description of the penis:

We are right to note the license and disobedience of this member which thrusts itself forward so inopportunely when we do not want it to, and which so inopportunely lets us down when we most need it. It imperiously contests for authority with our will.

Haidt is getting a lot of buzz about his new book, The Righteous Mind, in which he explores the link between moral intuitions and decision making with a healthy dose of politics thrown in for good measure (for those familiar with George Lakoff’s books on the cognitive side of politics, this is in a similar vein). If you interested in decision making as an integral part of the negotiation process, you may want to add this current bestseller to your reading list.