In a recent article, I wrote about outcome bias and the core principle of decision analysis:

The quality of a decision should be evaluated using only the information available to the decision-maker at the time the decision was made.

If you’re new to the topic, I recommend checking out my gentle intro. This article is a footnote for my fellow nerds.

The 3 main perspectives on moral philosophy

• Consequentialism: consider the consequences!
• Deontology: do your duty!
• Virtue ethics: be virtuous!

Moral propaganda or decision intelligence?

Don’t misunderstand outcome bias as propaganda against consequentialist morality.

You’d be forgiven for thinking it’s about that if you’ve been subjected to flatfooted explanations of outcome bias that play fast and loose with the words “intentions” and “consequences.”

Actually, the psychological phenomenon of outcome bias does not play favorites with topics of modern moral philosophy and makes no statements about areas like virtue ethics or utilitarianism.

So, why the misunderstanding?

#philosophy #ethics #data-science #psychology #data analysis