On Desire: Why we want what we want P.111
In making decisions, we try to proceed in a rational manner, but the analytic process is often a sham. We might, for example, draw up a list of pros and cons. The problem with such lists is that we routinely cheat in constructing them. When the list isn’t coming out ‘right,’ we rack our brains to come up with items to add to one side; when that doesn’t work, we decide that the terms on the ‘right’ side, thought fewer in number, should be given a greater weight. And if even that doesn’t work, we simply throw the list away or conveniently misplace it. The list isn’t so much an analytic technique for making a decision as it is a device for rationalizing a decision that deep down has already been made.”