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The reality of choices is that they often do not appear to be bad choices at the time. Once the choice is made, the circumstances of the situation can sometimes make the result less than favorable. Of course, sometimes we could have anticipated this, but instead we choose to make the choice anyway. Here are a few reasons that we make bad choices in life.

HUMAN NATURE

Some believe that people are "basically good". Others believe that people are "basically bad". Even if you believe that people are basically good, logically that means that people are not all good. Therefore, they cannot help but make some bad choices in life, regardless of their intentions. This doesn't give people much assurance because it suggests that no matter how hard they try, they will still make some poor choices.

LACK OF INFORMATION

Some people make poor choices because they not have the proper amount or type of information to make a good decision. Sometimes this is because the information simply isn't available to them, even if they seek it out. Other times, they have some information but they are unable to understand it or interpret it. Therefore, they have to make a "gut" decision and hope that it works out. Still other times, people do not want to expend the effort to seek out information. They would rather just go with their first instinct, rather than trying to make an informed decision.

INFLUENCE

The reality of influence is that sometimes people make decisions for us, indirectly. If we are unsure of what decision to make, we may rely on another person. This is not a bad thing if the person has expertise and can see things from our perspective. However, if that person has other agendas in mind or doesn't really understand our situation, they may influence us to make a decision that ends up bad for us in the long run.

Choices can be complex, and we must rely on our knowledge, abilities, and our willingness to do research. Still, some decisions turn out poorly, despite all of our efforts. The best we can do as humans are try to minimize our bad decisions by careful analysis and study, rather than always relying on our instinct.

Learn more about this author, Todd Pheifer.
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