https://www.economist.com/business/2021/05/29/the-dangers-of-decision-fatigue
A recent article in The Economist (link above) shows that the fatigue of workers at a certain bank, caused a monthly loss of half a million dollars. The article includes several other cases of bad decisions due to fatigue.
It is said that the Greek historian Herodotus, who studied the first Persian empire, the first big empire in history, is attributed the following comment on that people:
“If an
important decision is to be made, they [the Persians] discuss the question when
they are drunk, and the following day the master of the house where the
discussion was held submits their decision for reconsideration when they are
sober. If they still approve it, it is adopted; if not, it is abandoned.
Conversely, any decision they make when they are sober, is reconsidered
afterwards when they are drunk."
So maybe it was not a bad idea that certain people in the 20th century should also repeat the old Persian custom, going back to re-analyzing their decisions made in a sober state after having had a few drinks. Who knows maybe that way we will have fewer bad decisions.
