How We Decide

This was such a fascinating book. I would most certainly encourage anyone to get a copy and read it! For this paper, I received a 23 / 25. The assignment was as follows:

Assignment:

1)Complete the reading assignment for the book How We Decide: Introduction, Chapters 2, 4, 5, 6.

2)Consider the supporting questions posted on Blackboard.

1.At the molecular scale, how does the brain process and apply information/experience to the decision-making process?

2.How does agency relate to this process?

3)Your task is to write a two-page, double-spaced, typed essay addressing the question:

In the context of making decisions – what does it mean to be human?

How We Decide

Making decisions is a basic task everyone participates in. Whether good or bad decisions, all the people of the world make them. What is it that influences us to choose to wear the blue button up shirt rather than the white BYU T-shirt? Why do we choose Welsche's brand of jam, as opposed to Smucker's? With all the decisions each of us makes each day, there must be some tool, mechanism, and a driving force which influences them. Also, in the context of making these decisions, what does it mean to be human?

To reach the answers to these questions, it will be helpful to understand the concepts surrounding the basic molecular functions of the brain. We know that it is within the confines of the brain that data is sent and process. The brain is the tool indecision making. Jonah Lehrer, author of the book, “How We Decide,” describes in very simple terms, how this process occurs. There are many parts to the brain, each serving unique functions, all working together toward a common goal: to make a human function properly. Mr. Lehrer states that there is a “single molecule, called dopamine, that brain cells use to communicate with one another.” (34) Additionally, Wolfram Schultz, a neuroscientist at Cambridge University “likes to compare dopamine neurons (those neurons that use dopamine to communicate) to the photoreceptors on the retina, which detect the rays of light entering the eye. Just as the process of sight starts with the retina, so the process of decision-making begins with the fluctuations of dopamine.” (35-36) “When these neurons are working properly, they are a crucial source of wisdom.” (42)

We can plainly see that the little dopamine neurons have a huge role in the decision-making process. It is the dopamine molecule that is sent to the ACC (Anterior Cingulate Cortex, the part of the brain dealing with errors, or surprises) to deliver a message of a surprise. (38) It is sent to the NAcc (Nucleus Accumbens, the part of the brain that deals with pleasurable feelings) to stimulate pleasure. (34) Among other things. Mr. Lehrer also speaks of the two general parts of our brain that contribute to our decision-making, the emotional and rational (these will be discussed later on.)

With this understanding, that our brains can be compared to a big science lab with thousands of chemical reactions occurring at a time, we may wonder whether our decisions are simply based on these chemical reactions, or if we have any control over how these chemical reactions take place. We know from ancient and modern scripture that agency is an absolutely critical part of our existence. The Lord, speaking to Moses, said "Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him." (Moses 4:3) Therefore, there is a mode, or mechanism by which we can exercise that agency and control the decisions we make. Mr. Lehrer speaks of this when he says “human emotions are built into the brain at a very basic level. They tend to ignore instructions. But this doesn't mean that humans are mere puppets of the limbic system... Thanks to the prefrontal cortex, we can transcend our impulses and figure out which feelings are useful and which ones should be ignored.” (115)

As aforementioned, the two main contributors to our decision-making are emotion and our rational. It is the prefrontal cortex which balances the two. With our agency, we, unknowingly, utilize the “transcending” function of the prefrontal cortex to make decisions based on our moral standards. Mr. Lehrer speaks on this saying the “ability to analyze the facts—to transcend our feelings, instincts, and impulses—is often seen as the defining element of human nature” (9) and “a crucial subset of decision-making [is] referred to as morality” (169) and “sympathy is one of humanity's most basic instincts.” (194)

This is what constitutes being human. It is utilizing all of the chemical reactions of the unique parts of the brain and the dopamine neurons and the rational and emotional aspects of our brain, to reach our goals, or exercise our agency in such a way as to attain our desires, whatever they may be. That's why we choose the BYU T-shirt and Welsche's Jam. The tool is our brain, the decider is our agency, the driving force is our desire.