All things rational
June 15, 2010Ask somebody about the way they make decisions and without a doubt every single person will reply with a process that roughly resembles those ones offered by literature on Rational Decision Theory. For starters, we all think we are rational, right? We all think we are sane individuals, who act within expected parameters of risk and safety and who can assess the consecuences of our acts (decisions). And as it happens, we are! That is, within the limits of our own “rationality” and within the boundaries of the situation at hand.
The next condition that has to be fullfilled is that concerned with the rationality of the decision. It is more or less agreed that the fundamental condition required for a decision to be considered rational is that we have problem and a way of developing and evaluating the possible solutions before we choose the option that will bring us closer to solving the problem.
The deeper you look into the process, you’ll be able to identify the different parts of the process. In other words, when presented with a problematic situation we analyse it, we then establish our objectives (at the most basic levels of complexity there is a single objective – there’s a bad odour in the kitchen. Objective: Improve hygiene by removing source of bad odour); we then set out to develop and assess the possible options that can help us achieve that objective (clean fridge, empty bins, all of them). We then choose based on the consequences of each alternative and our own preferences (if both the fridge and the bins smell, which of the two options gives me more brownie points with my wife? My preference is for the fridge, therefore that is my decision). Finally, we act on our decision otherwise it’s all good intentions and we’ve all heard about the material paving the road to hell.
As you can see, my preference of brownie points over hygiene sets the criteria I use to decide and it makes perfect sense to me that is, it is rational to me. Other people may decide hygiene is their number one priority… and are single.
