> Perhaps the idea is that people are more hesitant to make decisions when they become aware that what they had previously taken as absolute is in fact conditional?
Most people are horrible at dealing with uncertainty when making decisions. I don't know why this is. But taking an uncertain landscape, making a decision and then projecting certainty works better than conveying the risks for communicating with everyone but people used to making executive decisions.
So if you have two politicians, one who channels a scientist's healthy (and realistic) scepticism and one who takes a random position and blasts it, the latter will tend to be more popular.
> But taking an uncertain landscape, making a decision and then projecting certainty works better than conveying the risks for communicating with everyone but people used to making executive decisions.
I think it depends on what 'better' means. It works better in the senses of getting things done, and of popularity. But, unfortunately, the things that get done are those that are some weighted combination of (a) rewarding in the short-term and (b) in the interests of the person who's good at projecting an aura of confidence.
If the 'right' decision tends to align with the interests of the decision-maker, then it's great to have that decision-maker pushing it through. But, when the decision-maker's interests are not those of the general public, paralysis might be better than populist marching into short-term gratification.
(On the other hand, I also recognize that not making any decision until you know it's the right one is just a long-winded way of never making any decision. Making decisions about whether and how to make decisions is just as complicated as the non-meta decisions themselves ….)
Most people are horrible at dealing with uncertainty when making decisions. I don't know why this is. But taking an uncertain landscape, making a decision and then projecting certainty works better than conveying the risks for communicating with everyone but people used to making executive decisions.
So if you have two politicians, one who channels a scientist's healthy (and realistic) scepticism and one who takes a random position and blasts it, the latter will tend to be more popular.