Ethical Decision Making

Summary

The script delves into the complex nature of decision-making, debunking the myth of pure rationality. It highlights four key drivers: unconscious thoughts with heuristics that can introduce biases, unthinking absorption of societal norms, personal ethical decision-making profiles with inherent strengths and weaknesses, and the importance of reflective practice. The summary emphasizes the significance of conscious ethical decision-making, urging individuals to understand their thought processes to avoid pitfalls and make choices they can be proud of.

Takeaways

• 🧠 The complexity of decision-making is likened to an iceberg, with much of the process occurring subconsciously.
• 🔍 Unconscious thoughts and heuristics can simplify decision-making but may introduce biases and distortions.
• 🏠 Unthinking custom and practice are influenced by family, society, and culture, often absorbed without question.
• 🌟 Personal Ethical Decision-Making Profiles shape our default decision-making approaches, with inherent strengths and weaknesses.
• 🚫 Ethical weaknesses in our decision profiles can lead us to overlook important ethical considerations.
• 🤔 Reflective practice is a conscious mode of decision-making that considers context, affected parties, and aligns with our values and principles.
• 🛣 Reflective practice also involves imagining possible solutions and is crucial for ethical decision-making.
• 🚀 While we may prefer reflective practice, we are often more influenced by the subconscious drivers of decision-making.
• 📚 The practice of ethics helps in navigating the subconscious influences and making more informed decisions.
• 💡 Acknowledging our potential for making bad decisions is essential for striving to make good ones.
• 🏆 Making choices that are justifiable and align with our values allows us to take ownership of our decisions.

Q & A

What is the metaphor used in the script to describe the complexity of decision-making?

The script uses the metaphor of an iceberg to describe the complexity of decision-making, suggesting that much of the activity in decision-making occurs beneath the surface, out of our immediate awareness.

What are heuristics and how do they influence our decision-making process?

Heuristics are mental shortcuts that our minds use to process large amounts of information quickly. They help us manage the complexity of the world but can also lead to biases and distortions in our decision-making, sometimes causing us to make unfair judgments or overlook certain ideas.

Why is it important to be aware of our unconscious thoughts when making decisions?

Being aware of our unconscious thoughts is important because they can significantly influence our choices without us realizing it. Recognizing these thoughts can help us avoid biases and make more informed, rational decisions.

What is meant by 'unthinking custom & practice' in the context of decision-making?

'Unthinking custom & practice' refers to the set of beliefs and norms absorbed from our families, societies, and cultural backgrounds that guide our decisions without us necessarily questioning their validity or relevance.

How does our personal 'Ethical Decision-Making Profile' impact the choices we make?

Our 'Ethical Decision-Making Profile' consists of our default settings or tendencies when making decisions, such as prioritizing outcomes or relationships. These profiles have strengths but also weaknesses that, if unexamined, can lead us to overlook other important ethical considerations.

What is reflective practice in decision-making, and why is it significant?

Reflective practice is a conscious mode of decision-making that takes into account the context and the people affected by the decision. It is guided by our purpose, values, and principles and involves using our imagination to consider possible solutions. It is significant because it allows for more thoughtful and ethical decision-making.

Why might we not always rely on reflective practice when making decisions?

We might not always rely on reflective practice because we are often driven more heavily by the first three drivers of decision-making: unconscious thoughts, unthinking custom & practice, and our personal ethical profiles. These automatic processes can be quicker and require less effort than engaging in reflective practice.

What role does ethics play in the decision-making process according to the script?

Ethics plays a crucial role in decision-making as it involves the conscious practice of making and justifying our decisions. It helps prevent us from being led astray by unconscious biases and unexamined beliefs, ensuring that our choices are grounded in what is good and right.

How can we improve our decision-making process to avoid making bad decisions?

We can improve our decision-making process by becoming familiar with our minds, our personal history, and our preferred ways of making decisions. Admitting our potential to make bad decisions and practicing ethics can help us make choices that we can justify and be proud of.

What does the script suggest is the ideal outcome of our decision-making process?

The ideal outcome of our decision-making process, as suggested by the script, is to make choices that actively reflect what is good and right, choices that we can justify and be proud of, thereby ensuring they are truly our own.

What can be some negative side-effects of using heuristics in decision-making?

Some negative side-effects of using heuristics in decision-making include the potential for unfair discrimination against people, ignoring ideas that don't support our way of thinking, and making decisions based on biases rather than a comprehensive evaluation of the situation.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Unconscious Thoughts and Heuristics in Decision-Making

This paragraph delves into the complexities of decision-making, challenging the once-held belief in pure rationality. It introduces the concept of unconscious thoughts and heuristics, which are mental shortcuts that help process information quickly but can also introduce biases. These biases can unfairly discriminate against individuals or cause us to overlook ideas that contradict our preconceived notions. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of recognizing these subconscious influences to make more informed and ethical choices.

🏠 Influence of Social Constructs on Decision-Making

The second paragraph examines the impact of unthinking custom and practice on our decision-making processes. It discusses how various social constructs such as family, society, workplace, cultural background, and friendships shape our beliefs about right and wrong. The paragraph highlights the tendency to absorb these beliefs without questioning, which can lead to a lack of critical thinking in our choices.

🌟 Personal Ethical Decision-Making Profiles

This section explores the concept of personal ethical decision-making profiles, suggesting that individuals have default settings or tendencies when making decisions. It points out that these profiles come with both strengths and weaknesses, and that being aware of one's profile is crucial to avoid potential pitfalls in decision-making. The paragraph encourages self-awareness to ensure that important ethical considerations are not overlooked.

🔍 Reflective Practice in Decision-Making

The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of reflective practice as a mode of conscious decision-making. It explains how this approach takes into account the context and the potential impact on others, aligning decisions with personal purpose, values, and principles. The paragraph acknowledges that while reflective practice is ideal, we are often more influenced by the first three drivers of decision-making. It concludes by advocating for the practice of ethics to prevent being misled and to make choices that are justifiable and pride-worthy.

Keywords

💡Decision-making

Decision-making is the cognitive process of selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives. In the video, it is likened to an iceberg, implying that much of the process is subconscious. The theme revolves around understanding the different drivers that influence our decisions, emphasizing that being aware of these influences can help us make more confident choices.

💡Unconscious thoughts

Unconscious thoughts refer to the mental processes that occur without our conscious awareness but significantly affect our behavior and decision-making. The script discusses how our minds use heuristics, or mental shortcuts, to process information quickly, which can sometimes lead to biased decision-making.

💡Heuristics

Heuristics are simple, efficient rules or strategies that people use to make decisions when they face complex problems. The video script mentions that while heuristics help manage the complexity of the world, they can also introduce distortions and biases into our decision-making process.

💡Biases

Biases are preconceived opinions or preferences that can lead to unfair discrimination or incorrect judgments. In the context of the video, biases are highlighted as a negative side effect of using heuristics, potentially causing us to make decisions that are not rational or fair.

💡Unthinking custom & practice

Unthinking custom & practice refers to the automatic adoption of beliefs and behaviors from our family, society, and culture without questioning their validity. The script points out that these absorbed beliefs can influence our decisions without us being consciously aware of it.

💡Ethical Decision-Making Profile

An Ethical Decision-Making Profile represents the individual 'default settings' or tendencies one has when making decisions, which can include prioritizing outcomes or relationships. The video suggests that understanding one's profile is crucial as it has both strengths and weaknesses that can affect ethical decision-making.

💡Reflective practice

Reflective practice is a mode of decision-making that involves conscious consideration of context, affected parties, and potential solutions. It is guided by one's purpose, values, and principles. The video emphasizes the importance of reflective practice as a counterbalance to the subconscious drivers of decision-making.

💡Purpose, values, and principles

Purpose, values, and principles are the guiding beliefs and motivations that inform our actions and decisions. The script suggests that reflective decision-making is grounded in these elements, which help in considering the broader implications of our choices and ensuring they align with our core beliefs.

💡Imagination

Imagination is the ability to form new ideas, images, or concepts by rearranging elements of experience in one's mind. In the video, imagination is mentioned as a component of reflective practice, allowing us to envision different solutions and outcomes of our decisions.

💡Ethics

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with moral principles and values, and in the context of the video, it refers to the conscious practice of making and justifying decisions. The script argues that being ethical in our decision-making is crucial to avoid being misled by subconscious biases and to make good choices.

💡Justification

Justification in the context of decision-making is the act of providing reasons or evidence to support a choice or action. The video encourages making decisions that can be justified, indicating that being able to articulate why we made a certain choice is a sign of ethical and thoughtful decision-making.

Highlights

Decision-making is like an iceberg with much activity happening beneath the surface.

Unconscious thoughts and mental shortcuts like heuristics can distort our decision-making.

Heuristics can lead to unfair discrimination or ignoring ideas that don't support our thinking.

Unthinking custom and practice from various social influences shape our beliefs about right and wrong.

People have a personal Ethical Decision-Making Profile with default settings used in decisions.

Each Ethical Decision-Making Profile has strengths and weaknesses that can impact decision outcomes.

Reflective practice is conscious decision-making considering context and affected parties.

Reflective practice is guided by purpose, values, principles, and imagination for possible solutions.

Ethics is important for conscious practice in making and justifying decisions.

Being familiar with our minds, personal history, and decision-making preferences is crucial.

Admitting our potential to make bad decisions is essential for striving to make good ones.

Making choices that reflect what is good and right leads to decisions we can be proud of.

Choices we can justify and be proud of make them actively ours.

Being aware of four key drivers of decision-making helps to feel confident about choices.

Our minds process information using heuristics, which can have negative side-effects.

Cultural backgrounds and friendships contribute to sets of beliefs influencing our decisions.

Reflective practice is the mode of decision-making that considers context and affected individuals.

In reality, we may be more heavily driven by unconscious thoughts and social influences than reflective practice.

Transcripts

Think about the last time you made a big decision.

Why did you make that choice?

What made you choose one way

rather than picking any of the other options

available to you?

There was a time when the answer to this

question seemed simple.

A time when we thought that people were

entirely rational.

Now, we know that decision-making

is more like an iceberg.

So much of the activity

happens beneath the surface.

To feel confident about your choices

it helps to be aware of four key drivers

of decision-making.

First, there are our unconscious thoughts.

Our minds are designed to process huge amounts

of information at extremely high speeds.

They do this by using heuristics

– like little mental shortcuts.

These shortcuts help us to manage

our complicated world efficiently.

But there can be negative side-effects of this thinking

distortions to our decision-making.

For example, some heuristics function as biases.

They can lead us to discriminate against people unfairly,

or ignore ideas that don’t support our way of thinking.

Second, there is unthinking custom & practice.

Our families, societies, workplace

cultural backgrounds and friendships

all carry sets of beliefs

about what’s right and wrong.

We can easily absorb these beliefs

without ever stopping to ask ourselves:

Third, there is our personal

Ethical Decision-Making Profile.

People tend to have ‘default settings’ they use

when making decisions.

Maybe you tend to think about outcomes?

Perhaps you prioritise relationships

in your decision-making?

Each profile has strengths …

but also weaknesses.

These weaknesses can be our downfall

leading us to fail to consider

other important ethical issues.

Finally, and most importantly

there’s reflective practice.

This is the mode of conscious decision-making.

It considers context and

the people who will be affected by a decision.

It is guided by our purpose, values and principles

and exercises our imagination to think about

what solutions might be possible.

We like to think that this form of decision-making

is our go-to.

In reality, we’re probably driven far more heavily

by the first three drivers of decision-making.

That’s why ethics

the conscious practice of making

and justifying our decisions

is so important.

It’s too easy to be led astray

if we don’t take the time to become familiar

with our minds

our personal history

and our preferred ways of making decisions.

If we can’t admit our potential to make bad decisions,

we’ll struggle to make good ones.

Make choices that reflect what is good and right.

Choices you can justify

and ones you can be proud of.

That’s what makes the choices

actively yours.