December 10, 2017, by apyst1

Is it always possible to make decisions rationally?

The different ways of making a decision

Example: You need to make the decision between writing an essay which is due in tomorrow and attending a party.

Rational decisions: A rational decision involves considering all the values of a possible outcome and then choosing the best possible outcome. If you decide to write the essay you might find it incredibly boring. However, you could also decide against going to the party, as you are aware that you need to get a good grade in the essay as your aiming for a first. The best possible outcome in this scenario would be to do the essay, therefore this is the rational decision.

Irrational decisions: Choosing to attend the party after you have assessed the value of both options would be the worst possible outcome therefore, it is an irrational decision.

Non-rational decisions: We do not live in a perfect world so it is not possible for us to be able to know the value of each outcome. If we cannot assign value to something then our decision is neither rational nor irrational and instead it is non-rational.

It’s not always possibe to make rational decisons and that’s okay!

Laurie Paul’s paper explains why we can’t always make rational decisions.

Personally transformative experiences change who you are or your point of view. Additionally, epistemically transformative experiences are such that you could never know what it is like to be in a certain position until you are actually in that position. An example of transformative experiences is having a child as it’s something you can’t comprehend until you’ve experienced it.

If a decision leads to a transformative experience then it cant be irrational or rational therefore it is non-rational. Thus, the decision to have children is non-rational. 

 

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