Lesson Overview

To describe the rationale for this lesson, I’ll use an argument (claim + reasons to back up the claim.)

Issue: Why learn about decisions?

Claim: Understanding decisions equips you to maximize your rewards.

Reasoning:

1. Making the best decisions maximizes your rewards because “best” is defined as achieving the most rewards with the fewest drawbacks in a holistic sense.

2. To make the best decisions, you must apply critical thinking (CT).

3. Applying CT requires the ability to recognize decisions as they arise.

4. Therefore, learning about decisions equips you to maximize your rewards.

Decision (What)

A decision is a choice made among alternatives by an actor (person or group).

Decision making refers to the process used to make the decision.

A decision can and usually is communicated as a statement of fact.

In the CT nomenclature, a decision is most often called a conclusion or a claim.

In the everyday world, a decision can be called many things: belief, opinion, fact, choice, answer, recommendation, and so on.

Examples

Decisions arise from questions. Here are some examples of these questions.

1. Which product is better: A, B, or C?
2. Should our government be involved in a war in country X?
3. Is it true that global warming is caused by human activity?
4. What should I do next on my project?
5. What are the best ways for my company to improve its sales?
6. Where should we vacation this summer?
7. It is true that the election was fraudulent?

Recognizing Decisions (How To)

Anytime you or someone else states a belief, recommendation, opinion, answer or whatever, recognize that they are are stating a decision.

Thus, this is a chance to apply CT if you want to maximize your rewards. Since we all want to maximize our rewards (by definition), there are countless chances to apply CT everyday.

Relationships

It is useful to recognize two types of decisions:

1. Truth Claim. This type decision asserts that X is true.
2. Action Claim. This type of decision asserts that X is the best course of action to take.