DECISION MAKING AND FREE WILL

COMPREHENSIVE DECISION FINDER

[ The CDF ]

The only way to decide whether one has free will or not is to understand the process of choosing. If you decide to do something, how do you actually make that choice? The CDF is my analysis of how choices are made, and it illustrates the principle that we make choices on the basis of weighted reasons, that is, on the basis of positive and negative factors that are rated according to their emotional significance; how strongly we feel about them. In making a choice, we decide by weighing the pros and cons, and it is the number and strength of these that, when compared, actually decide the choice.

Plato's Belief

One can achieve a full understanding of anything, simply by thinking about it.

Aristotle's Belief

One must also observe the thing being studied, look at it, listen to it, touch it.

Einstein's Belief

Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Donald Trump's Belief

Simple is better. Not that simple is so easy. Distilling something down to its bare essence can take time and a great deal of thought.

Fact

For over nine years I immersed myself in the illusion of free will, amassing hundreds of pages of notes, before creating the CDF.

This is not a method for making decisions, it is how we all actually do make decisions.

COMPREHENSIVE DECISION FINDER

BY

Mark Hovland

The CDF will show what you would choose to do for any given decision.

HOW TO USE THE COMPREHENSIVE DECISION FINDER (CDF)

1. Think of something you might want to make a decision about. It can be anything you might want to decide on.

2. Make two lists, one with all the positives for doing it, and one with all the negatives for not doing it. You might only be able to make one list if you can't think of any negatives, or of any positives. You also might think of more negatives than positives, or visa versa, so the lists don't need to be equal length.

3. Now you need to rate each one of the positives and/or the negatives based on how good (positives) or bad (negatives) they make you feel. The scale is from 1-10, with 10 being the strongest.

4. After you have rated all of them, add all the positives together for a total and then all the negatives for a separate total.

5. Compare the totals. Whichever total is the largest (positive or negative) tells you what decision you would make (yes or no).

Summary: Decisions are based upon your emotional response to your beliefs.

The Comprehensive Decision Finder may be used and distributed freely as long as no changes are made and Mark Hovland is named as author.

Copyright © 2005 Mark Hovland E-mail: decisionfinder@hotmail.com

Here is an example of how the CDF is used. This is just an example and yours would be different. The total for positives outweighs the total for negatives, you would buy the motorcycle. When new factors are added or taken away, the decision can change. All the factors that influence us, in the end defines us, thus manipulating our decisions.

Example: Should I buy a motorcycle instead of a car?