The Power of Judgment

Bad judgment often results in bad decisions that have terrible consequences and benefits the worst people, including criminals, con-artists, corrupt officials, and abusers. It results in social problems that include crime, corruption, harmful biases, cyberbullying, and many other problems in the news today. In this book, Ryan Kueter reveals just how central human judgment is to human progress and the problems people face. He looks at how to spot bad judgment, and use better judgment when you need to, by developing specific skills. For example, the ability to reduce errors in judgment to make better decisions, attribute responsibility, assess fitness for performing life roles, interpret motives and motivate behavior, and understand the effects of stress and adversity on mental health. Buddhism knows adversity as human suffering. Monotheistic religions know adversity as acts of evil. And science reveals how severe forms of adversity, even those created by bad judgment, can be harmful to mental health and the human condition.