Flip the frame, keep the facts

When it fits

• Different descriptions of the same option seem to pull your preference in different directions.

When to avoid it

• Personal preferences can legitimately matter. The check looks for sensitivity to presentation; it does not prove which option is best.

Why it matters

Write the same option in two equivalent forms — positive and negative, gain and loss, or plain and persuasive. Keep the actual outcomes fixed. This is a consistency check, not a trick for producing the 'correct' answer.

Steps

1. Write the outcomes, quantities, probabilities, population, and time period.
2. Create a second description without adding or removing any of those facts.
3. State your choice under each version and the reason for it.
4. If the choice changes, identify what the wording highlighted. If the facts were not equivalent, discard the comparison and fix it.

Check your result

Can you show that both descriptions contain the same facts and explain any change in preference without smuggling in a new outcome?

Keep this limit in mind

• Personal preferences can legitimately matter. The check looks for sensitivity to presentation; it does not prove which option is best.
• This general reasoning aid does not replace professional advice in high-stakes decisions.

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