I hear you, and to show my gratitude I’m going to reveal a trick of the judging trade, taught to me at the National Judicial College.

We did a series of exercises involving decision making that started out black and white but quickly faded into gray. When the prof called on us, we were not asked what we decided but rather HOW we decided.

To a person, we decided fairly early and paid attention after that to carefully craft a reason that would stand up.

Nothing wrong with that, he said. Everybody does it.

Trial lawyers have a saying that you can’t throw a skunk into the jury box and then instruct the jury not to smell it. Well, of course you can. And if they’ve listened carefully to your instructions, they will not smell it. (Speaking here of the general instructions, which we have to learn to deliver with the sense of urgency they deserve even though they are scripts in every jury trial.)

When we make up our mind, we have to put our decision in a box and feed it whatever evidence fits. But we also have to put the contrary position in another box and feed it similarly. Then, after all the evidence is in, which construction appears more robust?

Treating a tentative decision as tentative is not as simple as it sounds. It takes practice.