We humans can make better decisions more often when looking at a situation from the right perspective and with a little thought.
Here’s an idea I’m working on. I think it’s more productive to react to a number value than to have an instantaneous, unconsidered reaction. Why not use a numerical scale when you’re assigning values to problems in life so you can determine the appropriate response? In the grocery store you don’t just grab the easiest to reach item when you’re shopping. You assign a sort of yummyness value to each item before selecting the one that’s most appealing to you.
Zero to one hundred is the span of the scale I’m thinking about. On the low-end, a zero, would be something like holding a puppy in your lap. And at the top, a one hundred, would be those rare happenings like the death of a family member. Using a 100 point scale allows you some wiggle room. You could use ranges, say 40 to 55, if you’re unable to come to an exact value, but you’d still be in the ball park. Once you arrive at a value range for a particular situation, it’ll be easier to react appropriately to that event. Being stuck in a car waiting for a herd of cattle to pass is really a 5, at most, when you think about it.
Say your oven is broken and the repairman is scheduled to fix it on Monday but doesn’t show until Wednesday. It’s inconvenient and you’re pissed off. What’s it really worth though? Probably somewhere between 25 and 30, closer to 25 (unless you’re running a bakery). In five years if you looked back, you’ll probably judge it less than a 25. That seems better than treating not having an oven for two days than as you might react to a career ending injury if you were an athlete.
Too bad groups don’t usually do this.
Remember when a Danish cartoonist was killed for depicting Allah in a cartoon? Really, that should have been about a 4! Even if you’re an Islamic fundamentalist, how could it rank more than a 40? And that’s being generous.
And on this side of the pond, more recently in Tucson, people were killed at random with a handgun. Even a young girl, a bystander, was shot to death. If this event doesn’t rank near a 100, what does? Most people seem to rate it close to 100. But sadly, what’ll be done about in terms of controlling handguns as a public safety issue will probably be around a 4.