DO WE EVER MAKE RATIONAL DECISIONS?
December 13, 2017
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 …
Landing Your First Job- Non-Rational?
1. Laurie Paul Will Change YOUR LIFE I’ve always known that rational decision-making was hard. I didn’t know that sometimes, it is impossible! 2. We ALL Have to Face Big Decisions Sometimes… Like Rachel Green. Should she… 1. Continue living out of “Daddy’s wallet?” 2. Get her first job/ be financially independent? 3. …
Deciding whether to go to university? Maybe you can’t be rational.
Perhaps.. just perhaps.. some decisions simply can’t be made rationally. At least that’s what I learnt in my Philosophy lecture today whilst studying Laurie Paul’s paper¹. Here’s what I learnt: 1. Realistic rationality Photo credit: http://funnyand.com/learn-drive/ It seems like most of us want to be on the road one day. The important thing is …
Do we always make the right decisions?
This morning I went to a lecture which explored a paper by Laurie Paul on transformative experiences. Her paper has widened my view towards how well humanity are able to make decisions. How do we make rational decisions? A rational decision is one that is straight forward for Paul. We weigh up the values …
Are you really making the right decisions?
Decisions come in three varieties. Rational Decisions: when we make decisions we weigh up the outcomes, giving each outcome an arbitrary value of how beneficial it would be for you. Whichever outcome is the most beneficial is the best one to choose. Irrational Decisions: weighing up the possible outcomes of a decision and choosing the worst possible …
Making an Important Decision? This may help…
I usually struggle to get myself in the right mindset for lectures, but what I learnt today ‘transformed’ my life. Imagine the shock I received when I was told today in my lecture that sometimes, it is impossible to make some decisions rationally. Fancy a holiday to Japan? Well, you wont be able to make a rational …
Is it Rational to go Skydiving?
1. How we would Normally Decide The ordinary way of discovering the most rational action is calculating the expected value of each outcome. The value of each outcome takes into account: The value of each particular outcome The probability of each outcome occurring In terms of skydiving, we would assess the value of going skydiving, …
Is it a rational decision to click on this link? Lets find out
Making decisions is easy, but how do I know i’m being rational when making these decisions? The UoN Philosophy department took a page from Prof. Laurie Paul in todays taster lecture to investigate… What is a rational decision? Well, a decision must weigh each competing outcome of a choice and be able to assign values to what it will …
Is it Rational to Study Philosophy?
Philosophy isn’t a real degree, right? Don’t we just sit around pondering the meaning of life? It won’t have any real-life relevance will it? WRONG Turns out, Philosophy IS relevant, engaging and vital for developing key skills such as critical thinking. What WILL I study, then? To give you a taste of what its like …
Decision Making (A Cartoon Edition)
Ever wondered why some decisions are so hard to make? Well, I just had a lecture which might be able to help… Rational decisions – Some things aren’t for everyone We all make important decisions. We do this by predicting and weighing up outcomes. Seeing as everyone has different preferences, we must go …