Episode 3: Smart people should make smart decisions

           In our society, we frequently see smart people making dumb decisions. After all, people who are categorized as “smart” become an individual not so “intelligent”, when put into a crowd with a “different” opinion. Why would a smart person make such an unexpected decision?

In order to look into this problem more closely, the podcast uses Wilt Chamberlin to show us the typical example. Wilt Chamberlin, a famous NBA star, had a different way of shooting freestyle. This way of shooting was developed by himself, when he knew that he was not good at free throw. This solved the first question that arose in my head when I was considering about the reason of smart people making unanticipated decision, “Are they aware of the fact that they are making a dumb decision?” As it turns out for Wilt Chamberlin, he knew that he would shoot best with underthrow, the awkward position that he had come up with after practice, but he still chose to throw the way that the majority wanted. Why? It’s quite illogical, because if he is not able to succeed on free throw, which is most likely that he would not since he used a different method, he would be blamed anyways. Isn’t it better to gain a point for the team using an abnormal position?

In my opinion the reason that lies behind this is being afraid of differences and wanting to evade responsibility. Statistically, where there can be exception, there is a high percentage that the majority’s decision or thought are right over the minorities. Under a society, where it is just natural to pursue stability, Korean society especially, creates a tacit atmosphere to silence the voice different from the majorities. It is hard to stand as a minority in a society where being a minority brings you disadvantages, unfair treatment against the law and etc. However, it is bit overly interpreted to say that the society is the only reason for smart people making dumb decisions. If the threshold, as the podcast mentions, was higher for Wilt Chamberlin, he could have chosen to throw underhand like Berry. There exists an individual difference in the threshold, but I think it is important to remember that individual threshold can change over time.

Realizing that our threshold can change, making our threshold to get higher, respecting diverse opinions and setting an atmosphere where smart people can make smart decision is more important than it seems. Even though, democracy is operated with a majority’s vote that does not mean that minority’s opinion should be ignored. It is actually the opposite. The diversity of the opinion, which includes the minority’s opinion, is the only fundamental thing that keeps the democratic society different from that of a dictatorship. In order to change the social atmosphere of treating “different” as “mistaken”, individuals must first believe that having high threshold and being able to logically prove one’s decision in order to make a smart decision is something that one should stand for.