Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate result... — Scott Adams

Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate results.

Author: Scott Adams

Insight: We'd like to think our decisions come from careful analysis, but most of us operate under a peculiar system: we make a choice based on partial information and gut feeling, then spend enormous energy explaining why things didn't work out the way we planned—usually by pointing fingers at circumstances or other people. Scott Adams nails something we all recognize but rarely admit. The truly strange part is how universal this pattern is, from workplace meetings to personal relationships. Someone proposes a strategy with confidence despite obvious gaps in knowledge, it goes sideways, and suddenly there are plenty of external culprits identified. Rarely do we sit with the simpler truth: we were guessing, and the guess didn't land. That kind of honesty is uncomfortable because it means accepting our own role in uncertainty. What makes this observation still sharp today is how our information-saturated world actually enables better guessing to feel like genuine knowledge. We have data, research, expert opinions at our fingertips—and somehow we're still mostly just choosing a direction and hoping. Maybe the real value in recognizing this pattern isn't cynicism; it's permission to be a bit gentler with yourself about decisions made under incomplete information, and a bit more honest about accepting outcomes when your educated guesses simply miss the mark.