Proof? Guarantees? Ambition is commendable, but are you serious? — Srap Tasmaner

I am serious

At first I thought you were stuck on the problem of the criterion, which most people prefer to ignore as circular nonsense, but in several posts, you seem to demand something like knowledge of the future in order to make a decision. — Srap Tasmaner

I think that what I would prefer to oracular insight is knowledge of the present. What I mean is that for instance throughout history military methods have been employed without an accurate understanding of the enemy, the terrain, the climate or the actual capabilities of one’s own forces among other variables. This kind of ignorance leads to destruction.

Good decisions (wise choices) are what we're gunning for, but sometimes we fail and take a bad decision. — TheMadFool

I’m glad we agree on this

Thus when we decide we choose wisely. — TheMadFool

I think the idea that when we decide we choose wisely is absurd. Every decision ever made could then be categorized as a wise decision but we know that this isn’t the case. I’m not sure what you’re trying to communicate but if I’m misinterpreting your conclusion please provide me with a little bit of elaboration and clarification.

So, yeah, at worst, no choice and at best, only an illusion of choice. — TheMadFool

I couldn’t care less about the free will debate. Whether or not we have choice isn’t what I’m interested in. I’m interested in our behavior.

What is a choice? — TheMadFool

I think what I mean by a choice is a decision. Like someone deciding to do something or to believe something. The concept of choice or the notion of a decision seems to revolve around some sort of action. So basically what it boils down to is what we end up doing. So what I’m asking is how do we know that what we do makes sense.

Science, mathematics, and computing sounds more up your alley. — Outlander

I’m not sure that there is this kind of clear demarcation between these subjects and philosophy. Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think so.

These words you use, beneficial and counterproductive, are so ambiguous. — Outlander

I apologize if there is some ambiguity imbedded in my questions but this is the first time I’ve ever started a discussion. Hopefully you can overlook my lack of experience.

I'm going to opt out of this. If it goes somewhere I might drop in again. Cheers. — Tom Storm

I was under the impression that you lost interest in this conversation Tom.

Prove yourself brave, truthful and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy, Pinocchio. — Tom Storm

I don’t want to be a real boy

Repeating terms used in the previous text. Lack of general knowledge. Pat statements that could fit in anywhere. Inverting statements to construct replies. Looks like pattern recognition software. — Banno

Lol

Humans are extraordinarily absurd beings. — I like sushi

At least we agree on one thing. Humans are indeed extraordinarily absurd beings.

humans do NOT always, or perhaps even mainly, act in a rational nor logical manner. — I like sushi

I agree but I don’t think that it necessarily follows from this that I’m wrong when I claim that people believe they are doing what is best when they select some solution to their problems. In other words they think that it makes sense. Otherwise it’s hard to believe that they would voluntarily choose to do what seems inferior and absurd.

Your own emotions are the the most important indicators you have that your ways of coping that used to work are starting to fail you. — Joshs

I disagree but I’m willing to listen to whatever arguments lead you to this conclusion in the first place.

That doesn’t mean we can’t agree on many important things , but this requires that we start from
where the other person is at rather than from assumed objective standards. — Joshs

Can you give me an example of what an objective standard might look like because I don’t recall ever trying to use them as some sort of basis. In other words I’m not even sure what you’re referring to when you mention objective standards. I could really use some clarification.

i dont believe there is such a thing as objective truth about the important matters one’s life. — Joshs

I definitely do believe that there is such a thing as objective truth about the important matters in life and It seems obvious to me but I don’t expect everyone to agree. Would you mind explaining why you don’t believe in objective truth when it comes to the important matters in our lives? I would love to learn more about your position.

I'd think the best one can hope for is to know oneself enough to know that one isn't fooling oneself and is making the best possible decision in light of the known information. — Yohan

You might be right but hopefully there is a way to predict the consequences of our actions and avoid catastrophe

in medicine people can still come up with new or improved procedures or run into unprecedented or rare cases — Yohan

I agree but people can also come up with horrible ideas that can end up doing more harm than good which is why it’s important to have a method that can detect problems in advance if possible.

However, if blood letting was not yet widely tested, and there is some reason to think it may work, and the consequences of failure aren't dire, it could possibly make sense to try blood letting. — Yohan

I’m not sure how useful this hypothetical scenario is. I can’t replicate those conditions so I have no way of knowing if you’re right or not. But I do appreciate your input.

So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to try something when you already feel sure it will not succeed. — Yohan

I don’t think that it would make sense to try something even if you feel fairly certain that it will succeed. What we need is some sort of proof or evidence that guarantees that we are making decisions that make sense.

Speak for yourself! — I like sushi

I think I can speak for everyone in this instance.

So if you try something and fail, does that mean it didn't make sense to try? — Yohan

Can you think of a concrete example where this would be the case? It would help me immensely.

Now imagine that to do so, I must activate a device that can only be activated manually and destroys everything in a 50 km radius, destroying the asteroid and me. — Hello Human

If you’re asking me what I would do in that situation the answer is that I would probably activate the device. So no I don’t think that health is the highest good or some sort criterion we can use to make decisions.

Something about your question seems ambiguous to me. What does it mean for a decision to make sense? To who? Right and wrong to who? Who is to judge? — Yohan

I think that in order for a decision to make sense it needs to actually produce the desired result. For example in the field of medicine bleeding a patient doesn’t make sense because it does not produce the desired result.

So, what do you assume to be the highest good ? — Hello Human

I don’t know if there is a highest good but if I was forced to answer I would probably select the truth in the end.

But what about when the objective can only be accomplished at the detriment of one's health ? — Hello Human

Can you think of a specific example where this would be the case? It would help me immensely.

Do we actually make decisions or do they just sort of happen and then we come up with a reason we made the decision after the fact? — Yohan

I think we make decisions but people are different and some people will try to justify or rationalize their decisions afterwards.

Is it wise to aim at certainty before making a decision? — Yohan

It’s a good idea in my opinion

Do you think it's possible to determine if we are right or wrong? Why or why not? — Yohan

I would think so because we have made some advancements in the field of medicine for example.

As others have pointed out already, you're asking questions that are too broad to be dealt with. — Hello Human

Please define broad

But still, for the sake of this discussion, let's assume that happiness is the highest Good, like most claim. — Hello Human

Idk I’d prefer to avoid assuming that happiness is the highest good

Complete confidence blinds you. No confidence cripples you. — Hermeticus

You seem to be advocating some sort of pragmatic approach but I’d rather be blind or crippled. What I mean is that in my opinion placing any degree of confidence in a decision should be based on some sort of evidence or proof that what you’re doing is going to generate the desired results. Otherwise we’re just taking shots in the dark hoping that what we do actually does make sense.

What you call the criteria of medicine seems to be health. Problem is, is health morally right ? If so, then are there exceptions ? — Hello Human

I think that morality is irrelevant. What I mean is that regardless of whether or not health is morally right we need to be healthy in order to do anything in the first place. Also health is only the goal in this example but if I used other examples it would become clear that my criterion is different. For example if we shifted to a military scenario it would become clear that certain tactics and strategies historically adopted were later abandoned due to new evidence demonstrating a lack of any value. The same argument would still apply.

Constant questioning, but mild confidence in what you're doing is likely the best you can do. — Manuel

Why mild confidence? Why not complete confidence or no confidence?

All we can do is do what we think is best, given the circumstances we are in. — Manuel

The problem is that very often what we think is best ends up producing catastrophic consequences

Dude, you gotta watch "Sound of Music." — theRiddler

So basically the nuns sing a song

How do you solve a problem like Maria? — theRiddler

Who is Maria?

I'm just trying to ignore the question. I don't know if I've got a grip on reality or not. — theRiddler

I highly doubt that ignoring the problem is the solution

I think when it comes to important decisions about day to day living, few people are theorists. — Tom Storm

I agree but I also think that this fact is irrelevant

To live your own life, you have to discover the deeper imperatives in your being. — frank

I’m not sure what you are referring to when you mentioned the deeper imperatives of our being.