I believe Russ Roberts was an economist before he became head of a college. Anyway, he's got a piece in the NYTimes on decision making in which he describes the process Darwin went through before marrying. When I read about it in a recent bio I didn't pick up everything he did.
Back when I joined ASCS I was sent to a Kepner-Tregoe training class. One of the things taught was the same sort of calculus Darwin went through--figuring out pros and cons of a decision, assigning weights to each, and deciding according to the balance.
I tried that approach in choosing the house I was going to buy in Reston. It was useful, but then, like Roberts, I threw away the calculations and went with my gut feeling--the house I chose didn't come out as the best choice. The process can only go so far, and whenever there are imponderables and unknowns, as in deciding whether to marry, it's limited.
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