Lori Falce’s column “Trolleys, Star Trek and a pandemic” (May 21, TribLIVE) was not only timely with respect to the current virus situation, it really is a constant in much of our every day lives.
I first became familiar with the concept in graduate psychology at West Virginia University in the mid-1960s. It’s a psychology measure called “forced choice” used in evaluating intelligence or analytical ability.
I can’t recall the principles used to evaluate the responses; however, I did want to point out the process is useful in everyday life choices as well as extreme cases like the virus. When faced with an ambivalent situation, you are faced with undesirable options which affect the ability to act. Sometimes a lack of action has the least probability of worsening a situation. At other times no choice is simply not an option and the forced choice is required. You then do your best and hope good fortune is with you.
While this letter may not be particularly informative, I believe it reinforces the lesson to be learned from Falce’s reminder.
Louis F. D’Emilio
Penn Township, Westmoreland County