Is it a rational decision to click on this link? Lets find out
December 13, 2017
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 …
The Life-Changing Magic of Non-Rational Decisions
December 12, 2017
The open days are in full swing across the University. There are hundreds of events giving you a taste of just how great it is to study – and be a student – at Notts. I headed down to the Philosophy Department to listen to Laurie Paul’s lecture all about life-changing decisions. It got me …
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 …
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…
December 11, 2017
Another day, another lecture- although thankfully this one was at the much more civilised time of 2PM, rather than 9 AM, which as student is compulsory to complain about. Today’s lecture was on Laurie Paul’s theory of TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCES. Rational vs Irrational: First, rational vs irrational decisions and normative decision theory. When facing a dilemma …
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.
December 10, 2017
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 …