2.     Decisions are not conclusions.

Many people confuse decisions with conclusions.     

Decisions are not conclusions.  

    There are four differences between a ‘decision’ and a ‘conclusion’.

1. 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. Each preference is determined by a priority.  Every decision is determined by a priority.

Conclusions are different.  We cannot choose a conclusion according to our priorities.

Only one right conclusion exists and we must draw 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.

2. A conclusion can be ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, (2+2=5), but not ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’.

    A decision can be ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’, but not ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. 

There are no wrong decisions, only bad ones, and no bad conclusions, only wrong ones.

3. Those who make a decision are responsible for its results as they could decide differently - by a different priority - and get a different result. 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.

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 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 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 response to the 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 two 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. 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 ussualy 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.