Making good, effective decisions is a skill that we learn throughout our lives. There are multiple factors that go into choosing the best options depending on the circumstances. Introduction: Instinct and Decisions Quick, decide: hotdogs or hamburgers? Would you rather be a doctor, or a teacher? Every single day, we make decisions that affect not only us, but also the people around us and the environment in which we live. Sometimes, we make decisions quite easily. What to eat, how to dress, or when to exercise and go to sleep are all decisions we make everyday that generally don’t require a lot of thought. Other times, we’ll be faced with a decision that may have long-lasting consequences for our lives well into the future. Deciding which college to attend, for example, or what job, what career, or profession to pursue tends to involve more reasoning and contemplation; these kinds of decisions can keep us awake at night.

At the most basic level, humans use their natural instincts to make decisions. These are the kinds of automatic behaviors we possess that are hard-wired within us. For instance, we choose to drink water when we are thirsty. It’s innate to make this choice, as our survival depends on it. Additionally, babies naturally cry when they are hurt or want something, and baby ducks know instinctively to follow their mother when traveling across a body of water. In our life, one's instincts can increase survival and prevent dangerous situations from impacting us. Some may know this as the “fight or flight” response, where we can make quick decisions in order to survive. In instinct-based decisions, actions always happen before any thought, and the decisions are based on past experiences and are encoded in our DNA; the DNA controls us, we don’t control the response.
Inspiration-based decision-making relates to following our gut feeling, or “...our soul-driven promptings.” Such a feeling inside you might be so profound that failing to follow it and taking action may lead to sadness and regret. This type of decision making is usually a “guidance for staying in a state of flow,” rather than a “eureka” moment. Perhaps, this thought will not even arise from a specific experience or place. Rather, it’s a persistent idea that seemingly comes from nothing. You might have to make a decision about what to do in the near future, in the summer for instance. On one side, you can have fun and go on a vacation the entire time, doing little to no work. However, your gut instinct may tell you to get a job and do some work to get ahead, limiting your fun vacation time. Although you might want to have fun, that gut feeling may be the deciding factor: failing to follow it might lead to guilt and regret about that decision later, thinking about what you missed out on.
The Roles of Emotions and Logic
Logical and conscious decisions are typically very well reasoned and thought out. The neocortex, a part of the cerebral cortex in the brain, is our rational mind and allows us to think through situations. Logical decisions tend to be made over the course of some time, “between the event and our response to it.” Instead of impulsive decisions, thought precedes action in “determining the best course of action to take in any given situation.” Additionally, we have control over our actions because of the deep thinking we can do with ourselves and others. For instance, you might use a conscious decision on a test you’re taking, deciding between two conflicting answers of A and B. To make the best decision, you’ll need to use logic and a process in order to come to that answer. For these types of decisions, it’s important to follow a process, which can be defined in seven steps in the figure below.
The Factor of Bias Bias, whether intentional or not, is a crucial factor in many peoples’ decisions and ways of thinking. Fundamentally, there are four types of bias influencing our perception of certain topics. Confirmation bias involves “relying on only information consistent with our preexisting beliefs while ignoring information that challenges them.” For instance, people may have bias in politics. If someone grows up in a very political family, their relatives might influence the person to think in favor of their preferred party. Since a person’s parents are some of the most influential figures, they might refuse to acknowledge opposing information and stick with the opinion around them. Thus, confirmation bias influences what policies that person may favor and cause them to vote for a certain candidate, rather than looking at life from a totally unbiased perspective and a completely open mind to both sides. Two other types of bias include outcome bias and hindsight bias. Outcome bias occurs when someone is “overly focusing on the outcome and evaluating a decision based on what we couldn’t have known at the time,” while hindsight bias involves someone “saying ‘I knew it all along’ after learning the outcome of a decision, even though [they] didn’t.” Finally, people may also have bias in groups when it comes to making decisions. Sometimes, people shy away from saying their own opinions and agree with the group in order to avoid argument or conflict, causing the group decision or way of thinking to end up different than if they shared their opinion.

Overall, our decision-making processes depend on the type of environment and our past experiences. Understanding the different situations in which we make decisions is important to better control our thoughts and actions.