You’ve Been Making Non-Rational Decisions!

After attending Andy Fisher’s lecture today, I had an unsettling realisation: I’ve been making non-rational decisions. My decision to study Philosophy at university? Non-rational. My decision to try Marmite for the first time? Yes, you guessed it, non-rational. That’s because, as L.A. Paul argues, many of the decisions we make can’t be made rationally – …

Decisions, Decisions: Can We Really Decide?

Today I was in a lecture exploring Laurie Paul’s ideas on making decisions.1 She argues that sometimes we can’t use our rationality to decide things (seems weird… but bear with me). If you think that you rationally decided to get your new kitten, or to go travelling… Think again. Intrigued? Here are the top 3 …

Protected: So, you think you can make a rational decision?

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How Philosophy can Help you Make Decisions

Everyone knows that you can always make rational decisions. Right? Last week I sat in on a lecture that convinced me otherwise. 1. What is a rational decision? Rational decisions seem complicated. However they’re actually very simple. All you have to do is choose the action that you think will lead to the best outcome. …

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 …

Protected: Secrets of successful decision making

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When choosing to eat Brussels sprouts IS NOT a rational decision!

‘Tis the season for Brussels sprouts… Although perhaps more excitingly, ’tis the season for the University of Nottingham’s open day! Today I had the pleasure of sitting in on Andy Fisher’s philosophy lecture on Laurie Paul, where I learnt that eating Brussels sprouts for the first may not be a rational decision! Here’s how it …

Have Your Past Decisions Ever Been Rational?

Did you miss the Prospective Students’ Philosophy lecture? I am here to fill you in!       In the lecture, discussion was based around a philosophical paper titled, ‘What You Can’t Expect When You’re Expecting’ by L. A. Paul.     1. Decision-Making Is HARD: In deciding how we should act, people make decisions based on calculating …