The Decision Tree
Thomas Goetz is a journalist and executive editor of Wired Magazine. He’s also a really smart guy. His new book, called The Decision Tree, is all about how people can take control of their healthcare using data and tools which are readily available on the internet. It goes above and beyond most other health improvement books in terms of rigour (it’s based on good science) and readability (it’s easy for me to understand) The big idea is this: Our health doesn’t happen all at once; it’s a consequence of years of choices – some large and some small – that combine to make up our health. Sometimes we’ve chosen wisely and we enjoy good health; sometimes we choose poorly and we suffer the consequences. A decision tree, then is a device that can make these decisions more explicit and more obviously something we are actually choosing – it’s a way to externalise, make a note of, the choices that we otherwise make without much thought at all. Research shows that when we actually engage in a decision (when we think it through, even if just for a moment) we tend to make a better decision, defined both as one that we’re more happy with in hindsight and one that bodes a better outcome. Also, we more likely to commit to our choice, to stick by it when faced with the opportunity to change our minds. By engaging with our health consciously and explicitly as a series of decisions, one leading to another, we can become “smarter” and enjoy better health. Click on the two podcasts below – Highly recommended.
Leave a Reply