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Significance of Decision Making

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Guys,

I am interested in finding the answer to the following question:

How can we make a Deductive case that Independent (and Rational) Decision-Making is a key driver of Human Excellence?

For instance, I can make an Inductive case using a fictional character - Sherlock Holmes. This man took his own decisions on what to Study to become an ace detective consultant. He used both Independence and Rationality. For instance, he did not go only by what was being taught in Detective courses. He, by his own judgement, studied about Soils, Poisons, etc to master his craft. Later on, he was able to use this 'wide' knowledge to connect the dots and solve criminal cases.

Howard Roark is another example.

So, can anyone on this forum offer good reasoning to support (or even refute) my question/claim?

Thanks!

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For instance, I can make an Inductive case using a fictional character -

You can't use fictional characters like this. You are taking for granted that the fictional characters are depicted realistically and correctly, but that they are is precisely the question you are trying to answer. This is begging the question.

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You can't use fictional characters like this. You are taking for granted that the fictional characters are depicted realistically and correctly, but that they are is precisely the question you are trying to answer. This is begging the question.

Please ignore my fictional Inductive reasoning cases. I can - if I think hard - come up with real examples as well. But, that won't help me.

My question is: How can we make a Deductive case?

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"Excellence" is a little vague, because it presumes a standard of good... a standard by which we will judge whether something is excellent. If you want to make a deductive case, you'll need to clarify what you mean by "excellence".

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"Excellence" is a little vague, because it presumes a standard of good... a standard by which we will judge whether something is excellent. If you want to make a deductive case, you'll need to clarify what you mean by "excellence".

Let me re-phrase my question in that case, as below:

How can we make a Deductive case that Independent (and Rational) Decision-Making is a key driver of Human Achievement?

Edited by Saurabh
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How can we make a Deductive case that Independent (and Rational) Decision-Making is a key driver of Human Achievement?

When trying to validate a statement like this its helpfull to try and integrate an opposite claim, ie. A key driver of human achievement is decision making based on popular opinion, poll taking, and/or democratic consensus. I dont think anyone here will argue that rationality doesnt play a part in human achievement, but to make a strong case you have to prove that 50 million french men can be wrong, and independent thinking is the virtuous way to make decisions. Independence is a virtue, that should be the accepted premise to begin your deduction.

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Let me re-phrase my question in that case, as below:

How can we make a Deductive case that Independent (and Rational) Decision-Making is a key driver of Human Achievement?

Not sure if that clarifies what it is one would be trying to achieve. ... anyhow, that's not important.

You say that the inductive case is clear to you. What do you mean? Do you mean that there a few isolated examples where you can see this holding true, or do you really mean you see this everywhere you look? For instance, suppose I say that to win a marathon the key driver is stamina and the strength of certain muscles, or suppose I say that to become a CEO the key driver is whether your dad is a CEO... would you be able to inductively refute these, or would you agree?

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You say that the inductive case is clear to you. What do you mean? Do you mean that there a few isolated examples where you can see this holding true, or do you really mean you see this everywhere you look?

I see this in a few cases for sure. However, I do not know if this holds true in general - though I 'believe' it does. The point is: I want to understand the causal linkage through which this (Independent Decision-making driving Achievement)takes place. So, in a way, I am looking for a Theory.

For instance, suppose I say that to win a marathon the key driver is stamina and the strength of certain muscles, or suppose I say that to become a CEO the key driver is whether your dad is a CEO... would you be able to inductively refute these, or would you agree?

If are able to deduce your examples, I will have no reason to refute.

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Guys,

I am now approaching this question step-by-step.

So, the first step is to understand the role Decision-making plays in Human achievement.

In the second step, then, I will seek answer to why DM need to be done Rationally (and hence Independently).

Now, I know OPAR argues that Man has volition - the power to make choices. But, I want to go ahead and say that it is the exercising of this very power that differentiates an achiever from a non-achiever. So, my conclusion that I want to drive towards is: Man has Volition - and must exercise it in order to Achieve.

Below is my attempt at making a deductive argument for the claim that "DM is a key driver of Human achievement":

'There are hundreds of possible end-states in a man's life. Very few of these have a high achievement quotient (AQ). In order to reach these high AQ end-states, one needs to make right choices to be able to reach there. If one lives a passive life, then one has lowers one's chances of reaching these high AQ possibilities'.

Once this point is proved, I will go on to assert that in order for Man to go from his current position to an end-state of high-achievement, he just needs two key ingredients: Right Decision-making, and the necessary Effort after taking the decision. These two will be the essence of Achievement.

Of course, there is 'noise' factor called external circumstances and stimuli. But, these will be shown to be Secondary and not Primary. Malcolm Gladwell, in one of his books makes a hideous point that Human achievers were a product mainly of their circumstances.

This is becoming a long post. So, in short and for now, what I need from you guys is your reaction (refutation/modification) to my Deductive argument. Thx!

Edited by Saurabh
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The "OODA loop" is one man's dissection of the decision making process.

If you overlook the particulars of his profession (fighter pilot) then I think that you can find relevance to what you are doing.

Many visual representations via Google image search have it mapped out.

It is not the only schematic approach for decision making but it is a reasonable place to start if you are collecting data.

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