[JoeAltmaier]

Its not about how we think; its about how we feel. Some people feel safe without wearing a bicycle helmet or seatbelt, because they perceive the chances of an accident to be small or zero. The decision is made without thinking; get in the car, skip the seatbelt 'just this once, I'm not going far' and never consider the odds analytically at all.

[ewzimm]

I can definitely see feelings overriding an opportunity for thought. Personally, I have never bought a lottery ticket. I always wear a bike helmet or a seatbelt. I don't really feel anything about these issues. It just makes sense to do or not do them. I could see myself buying lottery tickets if there was a mathematical argument for doing so, as is the case in some lotteries where if you buy a certain number of tickets you are pretty much guaranteed a win, but not in any other case.

If I'm picking something to eat, however, there's definitely an emotional component in addition to the nutrition. I won't just optimize for nutrition. Maybe I'm just the same as the lottery ticket people, but I have different priorities. An emotional attachment to making rational decisions maybe. If that's the case, could a person override irrational emotions with more powerful emotional impulses toward rationality? It would come back to a cultural issue in that case.