I make many decisions with a toss of a coin. The trick is knowing when it’s appropriate. When I couldn’t tell which choice was better, I used to think it was a “hard decision.” Now, I recognize that maybe both options are equally good. The decision becomes so easy a coin can make it — so I let it.
I just discovered another “flippin’ case”:
When faced with two choices, simply toss a coin. It works not because it settles the question for you, but because in that brief moment when the coin is in the air,
You suddenly know what you’re hoping for.
You know it’s true.
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Hat tip: Minimal.
I think this is also how Two-Face from Batman decides things. Not totally sure that’s the right model to go with.
You’re right: there are many circumstances where flipping a coin is a terrible way to make a decision. I still like how deciding to give up control can clarify what I actually want.
I agree. Or, ask someone to make the decision for you. When they tell you what they’d do and you disagree, then you know…
I think that’s how my daughters used to pick out what to wear in the morning. “Daddy, what dress should I wear?” I’d give my opinion and they’d wear the other. :-D
If I am in any way invested in the outcome, I never ask a friend. Why?
Their values differ from mine, and what they would do might have nothing to do with what I would do.
It puts the responsibility for bad outcomes on them, which is unfair to both them and me.
That is also why I rarely give advice, unless it is obvious from a lengthy conversation that there is an option that hasn’t occurred to them, and then I present it to them as exactly that, and not actual advice.
I learned this as a teenager when my first cousin introduced two people to each other and they later married. The marriage was a disaster, which, of course, was not the fault of my cousin, but she got blamed every time something else went wrong for the couple, including when the wife had both breasts removed because of cancer. It’s just not worth it. No favor goes unpunished, is the lesson I learned from that situation.
Good “advice.” ;-)