Should I Do It
A verdict, a reason, and a confidence figure that is labelled as generated rather than measured. Then two questions that are actually useful.
The verdict below is random. So is the percentage next to it. The page says so on the label, because a made-up number presented without one is the dishonest version of this tool.
The two questions that actually work
1. Would you do it if nobody ever found out?
If the answer is no, you are deciding about an audience rather than about the thing itself. That is worth knowing before you decide anything.
2. What would you tell a friend to do?
People are reliably better at other people’s decisions than their own. If your advice to a friend differs from your plan for yourself, the gap is the interesting part.
What this tool does
A verdict generator for decisions you are stuck on. It gives you a verdict, a wry reason, and a confidence percentage — and it labels the percentage, in the interface rather than in small print, as generated at random rather than measured. Producing a number that looks like a probability and letting somebody believe it is the single most dishonest thing a tool like this could do, so the label is right there next to the number.
Underneath the entertainment are two questions that genuinely do predict what people decide, and they are the reason this page is worth more than a coin. Whether you would do it if nobody found out tells you whether the decision is about the thing or about being seen doing it. What you would tell a friend tells you the answer you would give if you were not the one who had to live with it. Neither is a formula, but both are considerably better than a random verdict — and the page is explicit about which part is which.
How to use it
- Type the decision if you want it echoed back in the verdict summary. It is optional and is never interpreted.
- Press Give me a verdict, or press Enter in the field.
- Read the verdict, then read the label next to the percentage. Ask again and you will get a different verdict, because there is nothing behind it.
- Work through the two questions at the bottom. If your answer to either surprises you, that is the actual output of this page.
Common use cases
-
A decision you keep circling
If you have been going back and forth for days, the problem is usually not a lack of information, and a random verdict is a legitimate way to break the loop.
-
Testing your own reaction
Ask, notice whether you are disappointed, and act on that instead. The reaction is real information; the verdict is not.
-
Two options, both fine
Sometimes there genuinely is no better answer, and treating it as a coin flip is the correct call.
-
Starting a conversation
Copy the verdict into a message to a friend if you want to explain why you are asking them about it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the confidence percentage real?
No, and the label says so right next to it. It is generated at random along with the verdict. Showing a number like that without the label would be the dishonest version of this tool, which is why the label is in the interface rather than in small print.
Will I get the same verdict if I ask twice?
Probably not. Each ask is an independent random draw from ten verdicts, so seeing the same one twice is just what happens with ten options.
Should I actually act on this?
No. Treat it as a prompt rather than advice. The two questions at the bottom of the page are the part that is worth acting on, and they are the part that does not involve a random number.
Does it read what I type?
No. The decision text is stored in the page so the copied summary can include it. Nothing is interpreted, scored or uploaded.