December 10, 2017, by apycb1
What you need to know before making big decisions.
There’s more than one way to make a decision.
Rationally: This seems to come naturally to us. If we are choosing between two courses of action we project the outcomes of each action, assign values to those outcomes, then, purse the outcome with the highest value.
Example: Do I start that 3000 word essay early to avoid stress? Or do I leave it until 48 hours before the deadline, stock up on red bull and battle through at least 2 emotional breakdowns. As I value sleep above stress the rational option would be start the essay early.
Irrationally: choosing to leave the essay in until the last minute is clearly the irrational choice. I have chosen my least valued outcome.
Non-rational: Not based on data about outcomes. Usually because you are unable to collect such data.
Some decisions cannot be made rationally.
According to Laurie Paul, not all decisions can be made in this way. A transformative experience can only provoke a non-rational decision. A transformative experience either reveals new knowledge to you that you wouldn’t be able to gain without going thought that experience. Or, radically changes your view of the world.
Such experiences; having a baby, going to university, traveling, becoming a vampire, are so profound they completely change who we are as people. When trying to project outcomes of such an experience it is impossible to assign values to the outcomes. There is no guarantee that the person you are now will have the same values as the person you become after the experience.
Example: you might not want to come to university as you dont like writing essays. But, coming to university is such a life changing experience you could value writing essays more than before. You wont know until you try it.
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