Are most poor people (in the USA) poor due to bad decisions and life choices?
No most poor people are poor because they started off poor and never excelled enough to escape their starting point. You see in order to rise from being poor it takes more than just correct decisions. It boils down to were you presented an opportunity and did you seize it. The richer you start the more opportunities you have for success. For instance with myself. I am not rich by any means, but I am middle class and I grew up middle class. I messed up in high school and didn’t do good enough to go to university. Normally that is a kill switch. I on the other hand already knew what HBCU I wanted to attend and simply aced community college and transferred. I knew this was a possibility because I was shown this possibility. For some dumb reason most poor people who mess up in school are not taught it, nor are they taught how they can get funding without even taking a loan. I then made a bad decision and got a woman I had no intentions of having a long term relationship pregnant, and I left the HBCU I had been succeeding at to go to a for profit school. I incurred a ton of debt and failed out. I had a child and no degree with too much student debt to just start over with school, yet I needed a degree. I went to another college, but my life with the child’s mother was so stressful I had no focus whatsoever and failed out again. You see all of these bad decisions and missed opportunities piling up…I’ll continue.I met a new woman and ended up marrying her. In the process she persuaded me to try college once more so I completed my associates degree at the community college I started at and just in time before Obama’s new FAFSA policy kicked in. (His policy would have stopped someone like me from getting any more student loans) I now work in a great job. My income has substantially increased every year. My wife who started off poor and was living a life similar to that of a great many poor people was able to focus on her own growth due to the income I brought in. Now she makes decent money too. We now have the income to be considered middle class. Just 3 years ago our income was considered poor, and we depended on a bridge card with 2 min wage jobs. Having opportunity to even try and seize is the key to life outcomes in my book.
I am very poor at decision making. How can I change this?
I used to be bad at decision-making too, until recently. When I thought about it deeply, I understood why it was difficult for me to make decisions, particularly quick-decisions. The reasons were that -1) I was scared I will be proven wrong2) I knew that there were people in my life who were better equipped to make decisions for me3) I always gave too much importance to how anything "felt" that how it was - basically going with gut feeling than logical reasoningOnce I identified these, I trained myself to get over these mental blocks.1) I trained myself to accept that there is no right or wrong. It is just a perception; therefore, differs from person to person.2) I told myself that if I make a decision and something goes wrong, only I will be accountable to me. If someone else made my decisions and things went wrong, no one will take responsibility. So, might as well take chances on your decision than someone else's.3) This one was way too tough to counter. I always "feel" more and "think" less. So, I devised a strategy to get over this one. Everytime I am in conflict about a decision to be made, I sit in a quiet place and make a list of pros and cons - i'm not kidding, i make a proper paper-pen list. I account for the tiniest factors and then choose the alternative that makes sense logically.This is how I went about being better at decision-making. I would suggest you identify your reasons and devise similar methods to get over them. Hope this helped. All the best.
How do you function in life if you are just a bad decision maker?
I wouldn't be so certain that you are such a bad decision maker. I think you have the same tools as everyone else. How you use that tool depends on a lot of issues. a. How prepared are you - do you anticipate the decisions you are going to make, and start collecting evidence to make them, or do you just 'react' when the preventable 'event' arises.b. How diligent are you at identifying and appraising all the variablesc. How invested are you in the 'results' of any decision to learn from it?Most people function on the level of correlation, or pattern recognition. Good decision making, particularly with respect to multi-variant problems, depends on good analytical thinking. This is differentiating outcomes of events to find a hidden 'cause' that you don't already know, as well as weighting its significance. People who are considered 'better decision-makers' are often not so, but rather well-supported by parents or employees, and otherwise supported by a proven system for relative success.
Are computers or humans better at decision making in real time?
That depends. When the rules are hard-and-fast or require the absolute absence of emotion, the computer can usually do a better job - especially if the decision is based upon a simple set of Boolean rules. A good example is a hostage situation. The rules are clear and simple and require no emotion.If the rules aren't very clear or are highly complex and require a balance of influences or emotional involvement, the human can usually easily outperform a computer. For example, when I stand at the wood lathe with a freshly roughed block of wood spinning, no computer can ever make the decision I must personally make - that of determining how to shape that rough block of wood into a vessel that pleases me and the people around me.
Why do some of us just naturally make bad decisions over and over? Read the details
There's a famous case of a man named Eliot (described by A. Damaso) who, before he developed a huge tumor of the frontal lobe, had a job and marriage , happy life etc. The tumor seemed to disconnect his decision process from his emotions, so he was unable to recognize clear risks (for example, gambling large sums of money or the lure of sleazy people). Others around him warned him repeatedly, but he failed to heed them and wound up berift of cash/friends etc. Recognizing the appropriate response requires good social emotions- being able to empathize with the sitution of the other and to modulate your behavior accordingly. It means that if someone yells at you, you shouldn't take it personally, but try to figure out what's causiong their distress. Sometimes, you can point it out to them, "you're upset because you're under a lot of pressure/ haven't eaten" or "because you're nervous about your job" etc A child who act up may just be seeking attention. Instead of scolding him (which does satisfy the need for attention, even if it's negative) wait until he's doing the right thing and THEN give attention. Reinforce the good behavior. That's what you'd like to see more of, right?If someone is already upset, you try to calm them. Don't yell back. Don't say anything. Let them run through their tirade and when they're exhausted, you can discuss it. "Man, you were upset. What is it?"Impulse contriol is important. Don't say the first thing that comes to your mind. instead, just say "I want to think about this a little before I respond"Don't hit "send" the moment you compose an angry email. Just send it to yourself and read it later.Judgement seems to be a function of the frontal lobe. This part of the brain is the last to mature (usually in the 20's) so, if you are younger than that and make a lot of poor decisions, there's hope for you.But also consider that you probably also make a lot of good decisions and you might be hard on yourself, focusing mainly on the ones which didn't work out. Keep in mind, we all make poor decisions .