Collapse
Williams College
January 10, 2007
Jared Diamond spoke at Chapin Hall last night to a packed house. He gives great podium! The talk is one he gives often; however, it was well-received and stimulating. The following is taken from the web site of "The Edge"
WHY DO SOME SOCIETIES MAKE DISASTROUS DECISIONS?:
"What I'm going to suggest is a road map of factors in failures of group decision making. I'll divide the answers into a sequence of four somewhat fuzzily delineated categories. First of all, a group may fail to anticipate a problem before the problem actually arrives. Secondly, when the problem arrives, the group may fail to perceive the problem. Then, after they perceive the problem, they may fail even to try to solve the problem. Finally, they may try to solve it but may fail in their attempts to do so. While all this talking about reasons for failure and collapses of society may seem pessimistic, the flip side is optimistic: namely, successful decision-making. Perhaps if we understand the reasons why groups make bad decisions, we can use that knowledge as a check list to help groups make good decisions."
I'll try to get my notes on here in a few days.
DJE