Benjamin Franklin, a diplomat, inventor, scientist and writer, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, understood psychological phenomena including those involved in decision making. By trial and error, he devised a simple technique to remove unnecessary influences from the decision-making process. In the method, Benjamin used paper and pencil to meticulously list elements, assign weights to each item, and make comparisons between the results. He called this technique Moral or Prudential Algebra, but over the years, it came to be known as the Ben Franklin Method.
We've developed an online tool for you using the Ben Franklin Method. In the old days, using pencil and paper could take a few days to arrive at some decisions! No worries, because, now, with a few strokes and clicks, you could solve some of life's peskiest problems within minutes.
Mathematically speaking, the Ben Franklin Method is a weighted arithmetic mean. DecisionCount.com offers two variants of the method: MULTIPLE CHOICES DECISION and SIMPLE YES NO / PRO CON DECISION.
Possible uses of this decision tool
Now that you've discovered a powerful method for scientific decision making, feel free to apply it to things you've been worried about lately - could be something as serious as career choices to something fun like what to wear for a dinner date. Go with what makes you feel comfortable. Feel free to use more items if it gives you more confidence, and use the tool with different criteria and values. Once you've used the Benjamin Franklin Method a couple of times, you'll become so good at decision-making you'll have a lot more time on your hands to pursue other endeavors.
