Rational decisions and emotions

Fear and greed press internal buttons that suggest action, and such action is almost always contrary to your long-term best interests. The instant gratification of acting in accordance with our emotions is sometimes almost impossible to resist. In the long-term we're all dead anyway, our mind tells us, searching for every possible justification for altering or ignoring our rational goals. But then Homo sapiens are not exactly famous for being rational. People refuse to drink juice from a new urine collection bottle. People won't eat soup that was stirred with a new comb or flyswatter. Few people will eat fudge or chocolate when it is shaped like dog feces. None of these rationalisations make sense. And neither do most of investment decisions when they are driven by emotions.

- Prof. Sage