What decides decision making?
A well documented data, survey and scientific study based
neural research like the one presented in your article is very interesting and
may throw lot of light and also give more insights into understanding better
the decision making process.
Having said that, however, when the very expression
‘decision making’ flashes across my mind there are many things that cross my
mind.
At the outset I would like to make it clear that I am
neither an academically accomplished person nor a scientist nor interested in getting
into heated debates or question anything or anyone.
Let me also make it clear that I am not trying to over
simplify the art of decision making which gave the world a wonderful philosophical
scripture like ‘Bhagawad Geetha’ and has provided the theme for many stories
and scripts in all languages and cultures.
This has also made me wonder whether there is or there are
any universally applicable readymade templates to decision making either from
what base[s] it should emanate? How it must evolve? What must be its ultimate purpose? And so on.
Here are some of the things that cross my mind, not
necessarily in order, precisely because I feel they are interconnected, often inseparably
interrelated and most importantly interacting as well.
They could very broadly be mentioned [for want of time and
avoid unnecessary diversion into Details] as the following: - Context, Choice,
Observation, Frames of reference, Perspective and so on.
Decision like everything else are made in some specific ‘context’
and it definitely involves choosing between or among some options available and
prioritizing certain things over the rest or to the exclusion of the rest.
This is perhaps the reason why in some contexts different
people or different institutions make/take different decisions.
There is always some element of suspense, unsolved mystery and
uncertainty in at least some aspect of every aspect of life and this is what
drives human curiosity in multiple ways.
A curiosity to proceed beyond all sorts of vast references of
existing great ideas, observations and thoughts into better or at least newer observations,
philosophical inquiries, refined rational approaches, lateral thinking and unending
seeking and searching for answers in manifold ways.
Here are some links to certain observations that I have made
in the past.
Since, you have referred to Bhawad Geetha I would like to
place here what I very often repeat in many of write ups, “In
fact the whole of Bhagawad Gita, one of the reasons why it became more popular
among the 28 Gitas, is that all its 700 stanzas are sand- witched between two
words the starting word 'Dharma' and the last word ‘Mama’.
It must be actually read as ‘Mama Dharma’= my
dharma- does not mean either Krishna’s or Arjuna’s Dharma, rather when
everyone reads it becomes ‘his Dhrama’ and all these 700 verses [ subjected to
all sorts of excellent, enlightening as well as, often used as tool to
justifying traditional practices, explanations by many] primarily are about
attitudes to be adopted, actions to be executed and reactions to show at
different situations taking into consideration the overall welfare of all
[humanism].”
This one on the importance of ‘Observation’ I
wrote to an old student of mine who was sharing some approaches and parts of
his research
This I wrote to a clinical psychiatrist friend of mine when she
wrote something about ‘Seeking’
How frames of reference can influence our perception
I also happen to write one Attitude Calendar in 2009 which I
posted later on in 2009 wherein I gave an acronym to Decisions and Attitudes-
the link to that calendar is also given here. Slide number 152 in that.
ATTITUDE CALENDAR
