'To do' politics is to decide policy.
What does “to decide” mean?
Many people confuse
decisions with conclusions.
Decisions are not conclusions.
To decide is to PREFER.
To draw a conclusion is to DIAGNOSE.
A decision is a preferance, a conclusion is a diagnosis.
- To ‘decide’ is to choose one option from a number of options. If only one option exists we cannot choose and there is nothing to decide.
To choose is to prefer.
Preference is determined by a priority.
So every decision is determined by a priority.
To "reach a conclusion" is utterly different.
Only one right conclusion exists and we cannot choose it
according to our priorities.
We must deduce it from the data by using
logical reasoning and technical knowledge.
Data, reasoning and knowledge
not priorities
determine a single right conclusion.
We must accept it even if we prefer a different one.
- A conclusion can be ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, (2+2=5), but not ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’.
There are no bad conclusions,
only wrong ones.
A decision can be ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’,
but not‘right’ or ‘wrong’.
There are no wrong decisions,
only bad ones..
- Those making a decision are responsible for its outcome as they could decide differently - by a different priority - and get a different outcome.
Those who draw a conclusion
are not responsible
for its results.
They could not draw a different conclusion
that is right.
They are responsible
only
for the
conclusion being right,
not for
its results.
4. Data determines conclusions, it does not determine decisions. The same data forces different people to draw the same conclusion, but they can make different decisions on it because of their different priorities.
To clarify further, the difference between a decision and a conclusion let us compare Hamlet wondering “To be or not to be?” with a doctor pondering “To amputate or not to amputate? ”
Hamlet has two options and must decide which to choose.
Knowledge and logic cannot help him, as they do not determine
what is ‘Good’ for him.
On the other hand, a doctor must solve his/her dilemma by
medical knowledge and logical reasoning
leading to the right medical conclusion.
If this has ‘Bad’ consequences the doctor is not to blame.
A doctor is responsible only for his/her conclusion being right.
Imagine a patient suffering from a tumour in the leg.
Analyzing test-results the doctor concludes that
the patient has cancer and says:
“Amputation can enable you to live longer;
without it, you’ll die soon.”
By applying logical reasoning to medical data
a doctor draws a single medical conclusion (‘diagnosis’).
If the conclusion is wrong it is due to faulty data or reasoning
but not due to the doctor’s priority.
Medical data determines a doctor’s conclusion, but not the patient’s response to
this conclusion.
The patient - not the doctor - decides how to respond
to the doctor’s conclusion.
The same conclusion can lead different patients to make different decisions
due to different priorities.
Some decide to die rather than live as disabled,
others decide to live as disabled rather than die.
Which decision is “Good”?
Can the same conclusion
lead to contradictory decisions,
both “Good” ?
Can two decisions
that contradict each other
both be ‘good’?
Surprising as it may seem the answer is - Yes.
The reason is simple:
different patients
have different priorities,
some prefer disability to death,
while others prefer death to disability.
Both decisions are ‘good’
in the eyes of those who made them,
as they are determined
by different priorities,
not by facts, knowledge or reason.
Different people have different priorities,
and there is no absolute priority
enabling us to grade all priorities.
How does all this relate to politics?
Are politics decisions or conclusions?
Do politicians ‘decide’ or ‘conclude’ policy?
In politics people vote.
Voting is choosing.
To choose is to prefer.
We decide what to prefer.
Anyone deciding policy King, Dictator, President, Prime Minister, Leader, or ordinary citizen chooses one option from a number of options.
We cannot choose
a conclusion.
Answering “What to do”?
is always a decision,
never a conclusion.
Decisions are determined by priorities,
not by data, knowledge or reasoning.
The same facts, knowledge, and logic,
can lead to different decisions due to
different priorities.
Politics is decisions, not conclusions.
We decide political issues.
We don’t conclude them.
Those who make a decision
are responsible for its results
as they could make
a different decision
motivated by
a different priority
and get different results.
Politicians whose decisions produce undesirable results
usually try to evade their responsibility
for such results by saying
“I had no choice”
pretending their decisions were conclusions.
But they voted.
Voting is choosing.
One cannot choose a conclusion.
