musings on interesting ideas

I was at a conference a few weeks ago and one of the other presenters was talking in his presentation about “the default alternative”.

The idea is that when we are presented with two or more alternatives usually one of these alternatives is the default one - the one most people are most likely to take.

It might be the default because of cost, convenience, attractiveness etc.

This got me thinking about how many of our day to day actions are so strongly influenced by default alternatives and how, if we always follow the default, we are effectively not using any free will. I feel that this idea also has very strong implications about the way we think about things, how we get stuck in our thinking and how we miss opportunities.

The example the presenter used was escalators.

So the default alternative here seems to be the escalator even though people are having to queue for it and the stairs are much bigger. I guess most of us have a tendency to minimise physical effort and so the default alternative is the escalator.

In the next picture:

I guess there is not much of an alternative at all as the stairs seem like a daunting prospect.

In the next picture:

There is no alternative at all - you have to take the escalator even though it is only about ten steps.

My point is that sometimes our choices are limited because our environment puts constraints on us (the last two pictures) but even when we do have alternatives the vast majority will select the default alternative without even thinking about it. So in reality we are not exercising choice at all.

If we could look for the default alternatives in our lives then we could spot where we are missing opportunities.

I think this principle might apply in all areas of our lives both personal and work.

If you have any other examples of default alternatives please send them to: blog@treepax.com