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Comment by baldeagle | Hacker News Reader

Once, I was trying to decided between moving to North Carolina or Southern California for work (there is a song in that somewhere). Both sides had pros and cons, and I couldn't decide.... So I flipped a coin. It came up Carolina, so I flipped it agin and moved to California. It was amazing how having 'decided' I could then evaluate the other oppertunity.

(And I think the Carolina business suffered greatly during the 07 recession, but I bought a house in Cali before the market fell... so either way was a path with struggle.)

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    Whenever you’re called on to make up your mind,
        and you’re hampered by not having any,
    best way to solve the dilemma, you’ll find,
      is simply by spinning a penny.
    No—not so that chance shall decide the affair
      while you’re passively standing there moping;
    but the moment the penny is up in the air,
      you suddenly know what you’re hoping.

https://statweb.stanford.edu/~cgates/PERSI/papers/thinking.p...

Came across this column/essay a while back on the theme of making life decisions based on what your future self would regret not doing, and it's stuck with me: https://therumpus.net/2011/04/dear-sugar-the-rumpus-advice-c...

>Once, I was trying to decided between moving to North Carolina or Southern California for work (there is a song in that somewhere). Both sides had pros and cons, and I couldn't decide.... So I flipped a coin. It came up Carolina, so I flipped it agin and moved to California

There is indeed a song there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvLjJE7Bt88.

Also known as the Marine Corps PCS (permanent change of station) song.

I'm hoping people who didn't grow up with 1990s country music at least look at the link and realize that the original comment is clearly a joking reference to the premise of that song.

(Also, for any musicians who dislike or are ambivalent toward country music, maybe even give it a listen. Those Nashville studio musicians are ridiculous.)

Is it? Sounds like OP gave some additional background, unless those bits about the housing market and the business are in that song. I think OP referenced the song but the events described happened in their life.

Certainly could be, and if so it’s a delightful coincidence and a story I would tell often to fish for 1990s country music listeners. Although I doubt they actually flipped the coin in that exact way, unless they were inspired by the song to do so.

yeah, I think it was in some movie - if you can't decide, flip a coin, and you will already know which side you want it to land while it's still in the air

also, if you can't decide it often (but not always) means choices are about equally good (unless you're missed something big), so you probably won't be terribly wrong either way

Something similiar happened in 'the last king of scottland'. The protagonist is spinning the globe and says he will go anywhere he will point to. Then it came up too boring so he spun again.

I sometimes use a variation of this with others who are stuck: I just choose one for them. Half the time they accept it, and the other half of the time they go the other way. :)

Such was Niles' technique to help Frasier decide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPYiCw9HHXo

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