The process of making decisions involves particular activities that an individual undertakes so as to achieve a particular goal and thereby solve a certain problem. Paul & Elder (2012) argue that “ To live is to act. To act is to decide. Everyday life is an endless sequence of decisions. ” This implies that the decisions that a person makes determine the outcome of his daily endeavors. When a person makes irrational decisions, there is a high probability of harming not only himself or herself but also the rights of others. Further, the rationality of decisions made determines happiness and success in our lives. “ Critical thinking, when applied to decision-making, enhances the rationality of decisions made by raising the pattern of decision-making to the level of conscious and deliberate choice ” (Paul & Elder, 2012). Conversely, irrational or unethical decision makers behave in ways that undermine their welfare by refusing to engage in actions that contribute to their long-term well-being as well as that of others (Paul & Elder, 2012). Informed by this background, this essay will present a personal account of acting by the patterns of irrational decision making. It will also clearly explain the thought process based on ego-centrism and the pathological tendencies of the mind. Lastly, it will highlight how I could have applied the keys of sound decision making so as to approach the situation in a more rational way.
Irrational Decision-Making
A while back, I had an encounter with a disrespectful customer service representative after losing $17460.00 on a timeshare investment. Before joining the investment platform, I had set plans on how I intended to use the money gained from the investment. Thus, the loss affected not only my budget but also my personal life. I was hurting both economically and emotionally. After realizing that I had lost the money that my family’s future depended on, I decided to confront the customer service representative in a bid to seek an explanation. However, the meeting took a unexpected turn resulting in a heated encounter. The decision to use this confrontational approach was irrational because I ended up expressing my anger towards the representative, who reacted disrespectfully in return. As I reflect on that day, I wish I would have reconsidered my decision and looked for a better way dealing with the loss and the people responsible rather than expressing my anger towards the sales representative.
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In the above case, I acted egocentrically with sheer disregard for the welfare of the customer representative. Driven by my anger due to the loss, I pressed the client's representative to take the blame for the loss wholly . However, in response to my irrational approach, he also reacted in a similar manner, making the scene I had created even worse. In the process of decision making, there is the unchecked belief that whatever one knows is right and must be followed. Like many customers, I was part of the socio-centrism problem, which assumes that the “dominant beliefs are true ’ even when they have never been questioned . The unethical tendencies that are popular in decision-making are founded on selfishness. Thus, to act and decide ethically, one must question his or her motives and their impact on others (Paul & Elder, 2012).
Egocentrism is the primary cause of unethical decisions “emerges from our innate human tendency to see the world from a self-serving perspective.” (Paul & Elder, 2012) . This is as opposed to serving others. To make sound decisions, individuals must use their reasoning and respect the evidence at hand even when it does not favor what they believe or want. Every human has the potential to cultivate a habit of rational thinking. An ethical decision arises when one has disciplined thinking. This refers to thinking that looks ‘through the implications" before making any decision. The processes involve noting and closely examining the purposes and aims of every decision to be made and disregarding every thought that places the individual welfare and that of others in danger (Paul & Elder, 2012; Sadler & Zeidler, 2005) . Thus, if I had used disciplined thinking before making the decision to confront the sales representative, I would have approached the situation more rationally.
In conclusion, irrational decisions majorly arise from unchecked selfish motives. Therefore, before embarking on doing anything, an individual must step back and think through its implications to make sure that the decision made does not affect him or her, or hurt others.
References
Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2012). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your learning and your life (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Sadler, T. D., & Zeidler, D. L. (2005). Patterns of Informal reasoning in the context of socioscientific decision making. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 42 (1), 112-138.
