In life, we often hear the common belief that spending more time thinking leads to more mature decisions and better choices. However, a new study published in the prestigious scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has completely overturned this ingrained way of thinking.
New research shows that professional chess players actually make much higher-quality decisions when they think quickly. In other words, in many cases, the longer we spend considering a move, the more likely we are to make mistakes.
To arrive at this surprising conclusion, the research team, led by Professor Uwe Sunde from LMU (Germany), in collaboration with scientists from Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands) and UniDistance Suisse, analyzed thousands of moves in professional chess tournaments.
Researchers precisely measured every millisecond each player spent thinking about a move. They then compared the quality of those moves with objective assessments obtained from the most powerful chess software currently available.
Professional chess players actually make much higher-quality decisions because they think quickly. (Illustration: Vlada Karpovich/Pexels)
Remarkably, the correlation between reaction speed and decision quality remained strong, even when scientists tightly controlled for the computational complexity of the chessboard, the degree of difference between alternative options, and time pressure. When the objective difficulty of a position was kept constant, the longer a person thought, the more likely they were to make a mistake.
Professor Sunde explains that the prolonged thinking time actually reflects the subjective level of difficulty the player perceives. If a player cannot quickly grasp the essence of the position intuitively, forcing the brain to continue performing purely logical calculations becomes extremely difficult.
At this point, trying to think further would be like an endless loop, leaving them even more lost amidst the complex variations. "This is the fundamental difference between humans and computers," Sunde emphasized.
While computers rely on raw computing power to scan and analyze millions of moves simultaneously, humans rely on their intuitive ability to recognize patterns to quickly distinguish between good and bad moves. When intuition isn't immediately active, our rational calculation abilities are easily impaired and lose their sharpness.
Previously, most studies on the relationship between time and decision quality were confined to laboratory settings with simple problems and student subjects. This study stands out because it uses real- world data from top chess players, providing a realistic insight into complex decision-making behavior in a fiercely competitive environment.
Researchers believe this finding is not limited to the black and white squares of a chessboard. In many real-world situations requiring strategic, brainstorming decisions—from business and investment to crisis management—spending too much time thinking can sometimes be a sign that the decision-maker is struggling to grasp the problem, rather than finding the optimal solution.
The research results once again confirm the crucial role of intuition honed through experience. People with the ability to quickly assess situations tend to make sharper choices, while trying to "carefully consider" sometimes inadvertently leads to less than expected results.
Source: https://suckhoedoisong.vn/nghi-lau-de-quyet-dinh-sai-169260521164736772.htm
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