(W.1) The mental process of selecting which
course of action to take from among a group of possible actions
we shall call deciding. These actions are
taken unconsciousness and are entirely the product biological
determinism. You are conscious of the availability of
vanilla and chocolate ice cream but our brain decides which
flavor of ice cream to eat. Biological determinism produces the action
of your esophagus to swallow the ice cream your brain decided
to eat.
Deciding differs from reasoning in
that the outcome of the mental process of reasoning may be
used as a factor in the mental process of deciding but deciding
need not employ the logic of reasoning to be accomplished. Indeed, reasoning
can be completely ignored in deciding. The mind
reasons, the brain decides.
(W.2) All possible choices of actions
are ultimately the children of emotions whether the emotions
are being produced in time present or story in the brain and
recalled as memory from time past. In both cases,
all emotions and the actions of performed by
unus are the result of and experiencing,
directly or indirectly, actions in the environment producing
them and evaluating them in the brain for
use in deciding subsequent actions by
unus. Without the emotion and
the knowledge gained from experience,
deciding on actions in the
brain is impossible and is decided entirely by material determinism without
benefit of biological determinism playing any role in the
decision. You are indifferent to chocolate or vanilla ice
cream. You flip a coin with heads for chocolate and tails
for vanilla. You could have asked another unus for their evaluation
of the emotion of pleasure for use in deciding but, unfortunately,
their evaluations may be entirely different than yours once
you have tasted both chocolate and vanilla ice cream and you subsequently
suffer the emotion of regret in your decision.
Without equal valuations of
two or more emotion and the knowledge gained from experience,
consciously deciding on actions is
not limited by indifference in choice of action
. The emotion of pleasure you derive from vanilla ice cream is greater than
that for chocolate ice cream equally. Your brain evaluates
the two emotions and decides on vanilla ice
cream. Your consciousness is informed of the decision,
ultimately resulting in action of your consciously
order vanilla ice cream. We are the slaves of our emotions.
Decisions taken solely of the basis of emotions
without thought we shall call irrational
decision. The actions they produce are often
called "knee jerk" reactions. No deliberate mental thought process
is involved in making them. Decisions taken with deliberate thought
involved in making them we shall call rational decisions.
They involve the brain weighing the valuation
of the different emotions ultimately involved in a
cost-benefit making of the decision. Is the benefit of
the emotion of pleasure from robbing the bank of its money
greater than the cost of the emotion of pain from
possibly being sent to jail for having done so?
(W.4) The process of deciding involves the
entire brain, ranging from input and retention for sensory
data , data processing including the
creation of awareness and emotions, and the use of emotions
in decision making which ultimately are the cause
of the effect of actions. Consciousness is not
involved in this process and is informed only after the process to occurs.
Indeed, how could one be consciously aware of a decision before
being made in the physical brain?
(W.5) Deciding is greatly influenced by the perception
of actions and the ensuing emotions created
in the mind as a result of that perception.
Each unus being different and having different experience
and different perceptions of those experiences
which, in turn created difference in valuations and
retention of those evaluation of the emotions
they created in the brain. Those valuations of
emotions stored as memory in brain
memory and subject to recall are the basis of all morals.
That is each unus decides their own morals just
as they decide between chocolate and vanilla ice cream. The difference is that actions
in response to morals can have effect on other unus.
A moral decided on evaluation
of emotions to no kill another unus results
in their never being killed by you, but lack of such a moral does
not preclude your killing them. Certain combinations of emotions,
however, make killing an acceptable moral under certain
situations. Examples include killing in self defense, killing in
wars or killing as capital punishment.
(W.6) The decisions resulting in actions vary widely
between human brains depending upon anatomy. As an example, those suffering
from schizophrenia have brains that function is very differently
from most brains. Those exhibiting schizophrenia have less gray matter
volume, especially in the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain which are
important for thinking and judgment. Those who have suffered a brain injury
or other brain disorder often find simple decisions almost
impossible, while others become impulsive, making hasty decisions without
logically thinking them through with reasoning. Poor judgment
in relationships, with money, or in business, can have negative consequences
for the individual and the people around them.
(W) Decidingis the phenomenon of the mental process of the physical brain which determines the course of action to be taken. It differs from reasoning that deciding is performed unconsciously by the brain. Deciding is the penultimate result of evaluations of emotions which are, in turn, the children of physical awareness and mental perceptions of sensory data obtained from experience of the environment of the individual exists. Errors in perception can result in irrational decisions.