The Role of Knowledge in Decision Making and Problem Solving

Making good choices is essential for living a fulfilling life. However, many of our decisions are based on emotions rather than knowledge. This article explores the importance of knowledge-based decision making and provides tips for expanding your knowledge base.

“Life is all about choices.”

The better your choices, the better your life will be. To make good choices, you need to have good decision-making skills. And to have good decision-making skills, you need to have knowledge.

“The more you know, the better decisions you can make.”

99% of our decisions are wrong because we make them based on our feelings. We choose what feels right to us in the moment, rather than making informed decisions. And then we regret not making the right decision later on.

Before we can understand decision-making, we need to understand choices. Because when we have a lot of choices, we have to make a decision.

If you only have one option, like eating a mango, then you’ll just eat the mango. You don’t have to make a decision. But if you have three or four options to eat, then you have to decide what to eat.

“Choices involve decision-making.”

Most of our problems in life are problems of choices. We have to choose. We have to choose whether to prepare for a government job or do private job, whether to get a job or start a business. Everything in life is a choice. From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep, we choose everything.

We choose whether to watch reels or read books in the morning, whether to go to the gym or not, whether to take a hot shower or a cold shower. Everything is a choice.

We have to choose because our resources, time and money, are limited. You only have 24 hours in a day. You can’t do everything in those 24 hours. So you have to choose what to do with your time.

You have limited money. You can’t buy everything. So you have to choose what to buy. You can either pay off your debt or start a business. You can either buy a bike or pay your college fees.

There is so much to do, but our resources are limited.

So we need to use these resources in a way that gives us the maximum amount of satisfaction. And that is only possible if you make the right choices. The better the choice, the better the life. And to make the right choices, you need to have good decision-making skills.

“Because to make a choice, you have to decide between two or more options.”

You have to decide whether to take a hot shower or a cold shower. To make the right decision, you need knowledge.

“The more you know, the better decisions you can make.”

Suppose there are two people. One person knows about stocks, mutual funds, and FDs. He will invest his money in these and will be in a good financial condition in the long term. But the other person doesn’t know anything about these things. He only knows about savings accounts. So he will keep his money in a savings account and his financial condition will remain the same in the long term.

The first person had knowledge, so he made the right decision. The second person didn’t have knowledge, so he made the wrong decision. So to make better decisions, you always need to keep increasing your knowledge.

If you have a problem in any domain of life, it means you lack knowledge. You don’t know something that you should know, which is causing the problem.

Suppose you have gas. You don’t know that you should chew your food properly, which is causing you gas. So there is a knowledge gap between you and the problem. The day you learn that you should chew your food properly, your problem will be solved.

So problems will always come in life. And to solve those problems, you always need to keep increasing your knowledge.

You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.

You can’t solve a problem at the same mental level that it was created at. You need to raise your mental level. When you raise your mental level, when you learn about the causes of gas, then you will be able to solve your problem.

So knowledge is very important for better decision-making and for solving problems.

Now, how to gain knowledge?

The best source of knowledge is books. Reading books helps you clear your basics and learn about something in depth. You can also consume the following:

• Articles
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Courses

The more you consume, the more you will learn. And the more you learn, the better decisions you will be able to make.

Thank you!