|
This year I decided to tackle the issue of the draft from a different angle, in the style of Cracked.com. If you have never read Cracked you should, and either way this should be informational.
So another year another draft, but this time you promised yourself it would be different. Yeah this time you’d stay focused stick to your guns and not even think about going after that Defensive End that just seemed to be slipping past everyone else unnoticed. No this time you studied and strained over each decision, and each selection was not a simple “pick” but preordained destiny, like death, taxes, and celebrity overdoses. However like that chick at the bar with the moody eye shadow that you “totally” thought might be Alicia Silverstone, sometimes the next day things looks more like a rash covered transvestite with track marks all the way to her toes.
Well don’t fret too much it’s not your fault- the draft that is- you’re on your own with the tranny. Science has several explanations for why you’re looking at your draft like an old yearbook photo.
1.The Endowment Effect- The problem with looking back at your draft has little to do with what you gained and much more to do with what you lost. You know what I mean, yeah you got a good Defensive Tackle but what about that great Safety that you had in your queue and lost at the last minute.
We all basically organize our draft in the same way, we make a list of the players we want to pick far ahead of time and we feel that those players are “ours” until either we get them or they are taken away. More often than not it is the latter we experience with more frequently. This is what’s called the Endowment Effect. We place a greater value on something we possess or perceive to possess then we do for an item of equal or near equal value to which we have no attachment. This is part of the Loss Aversion effect.
Need an example? Look at the classified section for cars in the paper. For every slick deal you might find you’ll see ten listings which are outrageously overpriced. Are most of those 92’ Buicks aren’t being sold by opportunistic swindlers; no simply people overvalue that which they already possess, scientifically by up to twice what those items are really worth. Want to see a better example try Craig’s List. So maybe that’s why your draft didn’t come out quite the way you wanted it to; you are trained to focus more on what you didn’t get. Or it could be…
2.Incentive Salience- When we go through the draft we don’t merely “like” a player; we “want” a player. That “want” is where our brain starts to play a mean trick on us. You see, our brain interprets “like” and “want” as two completely different things, and it has little to do with football, and a lot more to do with sex.
If you look back at early humans and primates there were many biological needs, such as: food, water, etc…; but only one true biological “want”. “Want” being something desired but not necessarily directly tied to survival. Biologically “liking” something produces a dopamine pleasure response while a need produces something closer to a pain response. “Want” on the other hand, acts more like a hyperactive three year old; it demands attention. This is why we watch the draft so intently and why watching and waiting for your turn is not always such a pleasurable experience. Sometimes it feels more like watching a horserace with an exacta on the line. This is also observed in reforming addicts whose idea of “like” and “want” have been turned against another. They can decide they no longer like being addicted but unfortunately can’t stop wanting the object of their desire. Even the slightest stimulus brings the “want” back to attention, it can lead even reformed addicts back into addictive thinking. So that tense feeling you get watching the four or five teams pick before your turn is closer to a case of blue balls, or a case of the Nic’s than it is to simple anxiety.
3. Cognitive Dissonance- Finally comes the Honeymoon effect, which usually kicks in a bit later. The Honeymoon Effect offers a direct imbalance in perception that we ourselves create, in reality it’s one of many problems posed by Cognitive Dissonance. When we make a substantial choice the “wishes and desires" part of the brain starts working overtime. We even retro-actively create reasons why said choice was correct in a process called Choice Supported Bias.
After buying a new car you might say “Yeah this new Kia’s great, you know I heard they use actual metal now.” This effect however only lasts so long. Eventually given more recent and pertinent information, we are trapped in a conflict of new knowledge and old knowledge. Come the third game of the season, suddenly you start to second guess that new Plasma T.V. and the Running Back you picked in the First round.
So maybe your draft went exactly the way you wanted it to, and that’s great but if it didn’t remember, just like a poker game against a magician, the cards were stacked against you.
_________________  ]
|
Login
FAQ
