Examples

Evan and Lori are headed down the interstate on a long car trip. Nightfall is nearing, they have been driving for some time, and both are beginning to get hungry. Approaching an exit, they notice a billboard proclaiming the easy accessibility of Dorothy's Country Kitchen, site of the finest home cooking in the state. “Dorothy's” seems appealing but they hesitate, having doubts about how good this restaurant really is, and whether a better one might appear if they went on. Neither Evan nor Lori has traveled down this particular road before so the decision to stop now or continue onward must be made in the absence of specific information about this restaurant or the availability of others within reasonable driving distance. If they choose to go on, they may not find another restaurant as good as Dorothy's (and it would not be reasonable to backtrack). How do they decide what to do?

A university tenure committee must decide whether to grant tenure to one of its faculty. This faculty member has an above average but not outstanding record. Some members of the tenure committee feel confident that the department could hire someone better were they to conduct a national search; others feel that new hires are always risky and that the department would be served better by retaining a faculty member with known-to-be-adequate, albeit less-than-stellar, qualities.