June 19th, 2018
Strawberry Picking
When I buy strawberries from the farmer's market, I meticulously inspect quart after quart, looking for dimples, deformities, and discolorations.
The reality is that this exercise is rather futile. After all, about 90% of the strawberries in a quart cannot be seen and the top layer is not an indicator of what lies underneath.
Yet, I obsess about this poor indicator rather than asking myself the more likely indicator of quality: whether the farmer is trustworthy.
A lot of the decisions we make in our lives are made in this way - with imperfect or incomplete information.
We make these decisions without knowing all the details beforehand. Even when we know our data is incomplete, we get a sense of satisfaction from scrutinizing and picking over the minutia of what we do know.
Just remember that when you are "seeing the top layer" you are not really learning anything. The best dressed job applicant won't necessarily make the best employee. Appearances can be deceiving.
As far as these sorts of decisions are concerned, experience trumps evaluation. Spend your time, your thoroughness, and your thoughtfulness wisely.
The "top layer" may really just be the "cream on the top" of a lot of regular milk.
Strawberry Picking
When I buy strawberries from the farmer's market, I meticulously inspect quart after quart, looking for dimples, deformities, and discolorations.
The reality is that this exercise is rather futile. After all, about 90% of the strawberries in a quart cannot be seen and the top layer is not an indicator of what lies underneath.
Yet, I obsess about this poor indicator rather than asking myself the more likely indicator of quality: whether the farmer is trustworthy.
A lot of the decisions we make in our lives are made in this way - with imperfect or incomplete information.
We make these decisions without knowing all the details beforehand. Even when we know our data is incomplete, we get a sense of satisfaction from scrutinizing and picking over the minutia of what we do know.
Just remember that when you are "seeing the top layer" you are not really learning anything. The best dressed job applicant won't necessarily make the best employee. Appearances can be deceiving.
As far as these sorts of decisions are concerned, experience trumps evaluation. Spend your time, your thoroughness, and your thoughtfulness wisely.
The "top layer" may really just be the "cream on the top" of a lot of regular milk.
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