The aim of this study is to make an interdisciplinary review on the principle of parsimony and the way it could possibly affect humans’ decision-making process. Parsimony is analysed as a scientific approach in evolutionary research, as well as an approach for interpreting cortical cognitive functioning. The study also reviews theories in decision-making processes and suggests the potential effect of brain’s parsimony on humans’ decisions. The main hypothesis is that human brain tends to save energy, leading people to the use of standardized cognitive strategies, based on learned knowledge and experience, which is faster and cost effective, but it deteriorates decisions’ quality, by not taking new information under adequate consideration. It is concluded that people should be willing to dedicate time and effort (energy) in order to examine all the information and evaluate the alternatives before making a decision. Decision-making theories provide us with some useful techniques for increasing decision quality. Finally, some future studies are proposed for testing the hypotheses.
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