Fresh, thoughtful journalism and creative works produced by students
of the School of Art, Communication and English at the University of Sydney.

The way we make decisions

There’s more to decision-making than meets the eye. In The Way We Make Decisions, Leo Su explores the hidden biases and heuristics that influence the way we make decisions to illustrate why we are not as rational as we may think.

From the life-changing to the mundane, we make decisions every day. But what actually goes on in our head during the process of decision making? Research from psychologists, like Daniel Kahneman or Amos Tversky, has shown that we are unconsciously guided by heuristics and biases during our decision-making process. These heuristics and biases assist us in making decisions quickly but may also mislead us in some situations. The Way We Make Decisions explores three common heuristics and biases—availability, loss-aversion and anchoring—to illustrate how they operate and how they influence us in life.

The video has a causal tone and mode of address which stylistically resembles episodes of The Feed (SBS) or The Checkout (ABC). It makes use of stop-motion animation and playful video editing, as well as fun visual elements. Scenes from the video, particularly the interview with Dr Bruce Burns, as well as the vox pop experiments, resemble segments you may also see on Catalyst (ABC), especially since the video explores scientific material.

From the life-changing to the mundane, we make decisions every day. But what actually goes on in our head during the process of decision making?

By

Leo Su
Leo Su
Leo Su is a student at the University of Sydney studying Media and Communications as part of a combined Arts/Law degree. He enjoys finding new angles of looking at the quotidian, which he hopes to combine with his love for creative storytelling in his media productions.

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