A rational decision
Published: Tue, 11/08/16
I have been resisting commenting on the US election. Don’t worry, I am not going to try and express an opinion about who is the better choice for president in this post. What I am more interested in is what a contest like this reveals about human decision making. Will the American voters make a rational decision about who to vote for? People always claim that they made the rational choice about pretty much everything they decide upon. In the UK we still have the ongoing debate over so called Brexit even though there was a narrow vote to leave the EU. The question of whether or not is more ‘rational’ to leave than to stay has not been resolved in many people’s minds.
What is a ‘rational’ decision anyway? Supposing I am trying to fix a car. I need to undo a nut or bolt and the size is 17mm so the rational thing to do is select my 17mm socket and driver and use it to undo the fastener. It would be ‘irrational’ to use a 16 or 18mm spanner or socket since the smaller would not fit and the larger would damage the bolt. Or what about taking an angle grinder to the head and just cutting it off? If I was intending to repair the car then the right sized driver would be essential but if I was just scrapping the vehicle and just wanted to break it as quickly as possible then the grinder would be the way to go. Why would I be repairing the vehicle rather than breaking it and just buying a new car? That would depend on the value I put on the vehicle itself. I have kept cars and vans on the road up to 15, even 20 years old. A friend recently sold a Morris Minor that was over 40 years old. Yet most
vehicles are scrapped by 10 or 12 years old, that is a ‘rational’ choice since old cars get expensive to maintain. However, if you go to a classic vehicle show you will see the shining and much loved results of very ‘irrational’ behaviour towards old cars and other vehicles.
Rationality is a tool for problem solving but why do we choose to solve a problem in the first place? We actually make our choices on the basis of value and assigning value is an emotional response. We like to think that democracy is a way of giving people a way of choosing based on rational criteria. If that is the case then why are results often so close? Especially in referendums such as the ones we have seen in the past couple of years with Scottish independence and leaving the EU. Are nearly half the electorate ‘rational’ and slightly more than half ‘irrational’? I don’t believe so, just different values were assigned to the UK and the EU by different people. You may say that those were quite finely balanced decisions and I would not disagree with you.
You might argue that people will always value life over death and act accordingly. People often do put a high value on life but this week we have remembrance day. People are wearing poppies to commemorate men (mainly) who valued putting on a uniform, serving their country, being part of the struggle over the safety of their own lives.
We do not do ourselves any favours by believing that our decisions are rational. We decide and act according to our values and the emotional responses we have to those values. Maturity and wisdom is not about becoming more rational, real wisdom is becoming aware of our values and learning how to be lovingly self critical of what we believe, think and how we act.
When in conflict with other people the best response is not to be convinced that you are rational and they are not. Much more constructive to be able to say. ‘You and I see different values on this issue and thus we have different emotional responses. I would like to understand your values, please show me the same respect.’ Okay, that may not be easy if the other person is not at the same level of maturity and wisdom as you, in that case setting an example and showing compassion is the way forward. As Ghandi said, we can’t necessarily change the world, but we can be the change.
When I first got involved with Stav about 24 years ago now Ivar told me that the real purpose of Stav was to learn to see reality clearly on all levels. Gaining true awareness is a long road and I certainly have not reached the end yet, not by a long way. But the journey has been interesting.
Ivar has agreed to come to Somerset again next September and teach a weekend course again like he did this year. Pictures and a write up from Clare Carswell on this year’s course at http://stavcamp.org/2016.html Then just follow the home link for details of booking on the 2017 course.
regards
Graham
PS Although I thoroughly recommend meeting Ivar and training with him next September, you don’t have to wait that long to train in Stav, three courses still to go before the end of the year and I am working on a programme for the new year now. See http://iceandfire.org/calendar.html