December 13, 2017, by apyzc
DO WE EVER MAKE RATIONAL DECISIONS?
I woke up this morning, considering myself to be a logical and rational individual. However, after attending Andy Fisher’s lecture on L.A Paul’s decision making, all my preconceptions have swiftly flown out the window. In fact, I found out that almost all previous decisions I made based on ‘rationality’ were non-rational decisions.
I know…
All will be explained below!
RATIONAL & IRRATIONAL
According to Paul, making a rational decision means having a solid awareness of all possible outcomes and therefore an accurate knowledge of the beneficial and negative consequences of these decisions. This leads us to make the decision with the best overall consequences.
SET THE SCENE
Friend – wanna go out tonight?
You – Sorry, too much work to get done…
Friend – boring…
We’ve all been in this position BUT according to Paul, this is a rational decision. This is because the overall benefit of finishing work and getting a good mark is more beneficial than going out, having fun (of course), but not finishing work and getting a good mark.
On the other hand, if you did go out and didn’t complete your work, this would have been an irrational decision as although you would have fun, you didn’t choose the decision with the most beneficial value.
NON-RATIONAL
Now…the mind blower.
According to Paul, if an outcome of a decision is a transformative experience – meaning changing who you are fundamentally – we cannot make a rational or irrational decision as we have no understanding of related value, to begin with.
EXAMPLE:
Before coming to uni, we know nothing about the experience, meaning it’s a transformative experience. Therefore, the decision to come is a non-rational one…brilliant that debt hurts a little bit more now.
If you found this interesting, check out studying Philosophy at the University of Nottingham, and remember at least your decision isn’t irrational…
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