1801: Decision Paralysis

2017-02-20T07:51:23Z

Trixieleitz: /* Explanation */ Correcting a homophone

{{comic
| number = 1801
| date = February 20, 2017
| title = Decision Paralysis
| image = decision_paralysis.png
| titletext = Good point--making no decision is itself a decision. So that's a THIRD option I have to research!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic illustrates a common problem in the internet era, where, with the wealth of knowledge available to us at all times, one puts undue weight on otherwise arbitrary decisions. This is taken to a comedic extreme by showing how cueball is unable to make a critical, time sensitive choice without putting hours of research in to justify it, at which point any benefit to researching his imminent decision of "which car will get me to my destination fastest" will both be offset by the time it takes to make that decision, and wholly worthless, as the bomb mentioned by Megan will likely have detonated. The title text continues this absurdity by bringing a third option to the table, the choice of inaction, a choice here that seems unacceptable, but the time spent mentioning (and researching it) simply adds to that already spent researching the two cars.

Although presented as joke, this is a very real problem in electronics design. Well-known <i>Buridan’s Principle</i> by none other than Leslie Lamport states<ref>[http://research.microsoft.com/users/lamport/pubs/buridan.pdf Leslie Lamport. Buridan’s Principle]</ref>:
<blockquote>
A discrete decision based upon an input
having a continuous range of values cannot be made within a
bounded length of time.
</blockquote>

<references />

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1801: Decision Paralysis