Topic

People who make decisions based on emotion and justify those decisions with logic afterwards are poor decision makers.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

My Essay

Decision making is a complex process which needs to take into account not just logical soundness of arguments, but the emotional impact of decisions as well. Making decisions may not be a binary problem in all situations. It requires thoughtful input from various angles to the problem. For example, making a business purchase decision like deciding the best option among different vendors may be guided by purely logical arguments, however, making a decision on selling ancestral property may need to take conflicting emotional interests into consideration.
As much as we depend on our emotions and gut feelings to help us guide towards our decisions, justifying such reasons with logic invalidates our concept of logical soundness of arguments. Logic and emotions are two separate classes of reasoning. Logical arguments can be derived using universally established principles, corroborated by theories from experts, and almost always have a definite outcome. Emotional arguments, on the other hand vary for each individual under different contexts. The outcome of decisions made on the basis of emotional factors does not guarantee certainty of success.
It is thus important to understand which aspects are dominantly guiding our decisions. If emotions are predominant, we should also understand the risk of leaving logical arguments aside and embrace the uncertainty of outcomes. Covering up the disadvantages of emotional decision making with logical arguments afterwards only aims to hamper our understanding of the problem and its results, and diminishes our ability to think reasonably in the long run.
Once someone makes a decision based on their emotions, they should understand its complete consequences, which can no longer be predicted by reasoning. If they, however, try to justify the decisions they made with logic, not only are they not trying to understand or take responsibility of the risks of their decisions, they are also being untruthful to themselves.
Based on the context, such kinds of actions may be unethical, outright lying, or manipulative. Logic is direct, emotions are not. When we make a logical argument, we have facts, proven theories, expert opinions on our side. When we make an emotional argument, we can at best appeal to the human nature, for instance, by evoking empathy. If we are making a decision on whether to hire or fire someone from our company, our actions need to be supported by cogent reasoning. If we take our emotions into considerations, and cover it up or justify it wrongly with logical statements, we are treading into unethical territories. It reflects on how well we can manage our emotions, how much influence these emotions hold on our actions and this shapes our decision-making skills. The less we try to acknowledge the emotional aspects in our decision making, the more we tend to become fallacious decision makers.

Topic

An international development organization, in response to a vitamin A deficiency among people in the impoverished nation of Tagus, has engineered a new breed of millet high in vitamin A. While seeds for this new type of millet cost more, farmers will be paid subsidies for farming the new variety of millet. Since millet is already a staple food in Tagus, people will readily adopt the new variety. To combat vitamin A deficiency, the government of Tagus should do everything it can to promote this new type of millet.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

My Essay

The new breed of millet engineered by the development organisation claims to have a positive impact on the people of Tagus. The government has already addressed major questions pertaining to introducing this new type of millet to its citizens - the cost of production, its health impact as well as the scale of adoption.
We need to however address some more important questions before we can completely recommend replacing the older variety with the newer one.
It has already been noted that the people of Tagus are suffering from vitamin A deficiency. To address this, the new breed of millet rich in vitamin A was developed. However, when discussing the impact of vitamins or intake of nutrients, it is important to understand their impact on the overall health of a human. We need to ask whether the amount of vitamin A in millet is within the range of recommended doses provided by medical experts, and whether there is any adverse impact on overdose or excessive intake of vitamin A, as we know that not just the deficiency, but excess of nutrients can also cause health problems.
Apart from the medical impact, we need to question its agricultural impact as well. Even though subsidies are provided for these new type of millet, purchasing seeds is not the only costly affair. Is farming the new breed feasible given the climate and soil conditions of Tagus? And if so, is it costlier or more difficult to sustain than the current agricultural practices? Answering these questions will help us to understand how many farmers will willingly take up farming the new type of millet as opposed to continuing with their older methods, and if it will be profitable for them to take up millet farming.
We need to question the method of engineering the new type of millet as well. What is the reputation of the international organisation in terms of aiding impoverished nations and developments in science? Are the methods of production of the new breed ethical and supported by health organisations like the WHO? Do they follow proper health and medical standards? We also need to be aware of the research behind the engineered seeds. Are they still in experimental stage, or has sufficient sample testing been done before releasing them to the market?
Asking these questions will help us gain an all-round picture of whether the new breed of millet will be helpful to the denizens of Tagus.




Thanks in advance!