close your eyes actually don't close
your eyes I'll just make the screen
boring think of a city then say that
city out loud now do it again but pay
attention to when you become aware of
your ideas and your decision I'll do one
mmm New York I don't know what you guys
are like but what happened for me was a
couple cities occurred to me then I
picked one but these cities just popped
into my head I didn't like will them
into thought then popping into my head
was almost the same as if someone else
was saying them to me and then popping
in my head that way I really don't know
why I thought of these also I know more
than two cities I've been to more than
two cities but only these two occurred
to me
Jakarta never occurred to me Toronto
never occurred to me in the moment they
simply weren't options gonna pick them
even if I wanted to maybe I could have
waited and kept thinking four more
cities to pop into my head but I'm not
willingly choosing from all the cities
that I know I'm not choosing which
options occur to me are we consciously
choosing what we choose what does it
mean to author our actions and decisions
if we don't control the options that
occur to us okay but maybe that doesn't
matter
surely I'm picking from the options that
do occur to me I picked New York I think
it's because I was at the mall earlier
and that I remember looking at a New
York fries or maybe it's because it was
the first one to occur to me or maybe
it's the fact that is one of the biggest
cities near where I am and it's in all
the films but if any of that was the
reason it's all outside of my control I
didn't choose for it to be the first one
to occur to me any more than i chose for
it to be in a movie okay but i'm trying
to reason afterwards what if we do the
reasoning first i think of some more
cities and i'll think longer this time
okay got a couple maybe pick dublin nice
accents there delhi always wanted to
live in india for the food new york
already picked that one moscow hopeful
okay let's stop here these deliberations
i don't know where they came from either
the reasoning is just popping into my
head like the cities did again it's like
a voice talking and I'm just listening
now I have to try to come up with
reasons for why I think Irish actions
are pleasant or why that even matters
when picking a city try and pay
attention to your reasoning as they come
up does it kind of feel like it's
someone else talking like your conscious
mind is just watching it happen
I'll just stick one I'll pick Dublin if
I had to explain it I would say because
of the accent thing but really I don't
know why Dublin initially arose in my
head I didn't choose my affinity for
Irish accents if I'd been born Irish I
would probably find them ordinary and I
don't even know if this is the real
reason why I picked the city maybe I
needed to think longer for the real
explanation to pop into my head and if I
pay close enough attention the final
decision is also just popping into my
head it's thinking and thinking and
thinking okay I'll go with Dublin it's
probably the best so I didn't pick the
original cities I didn't pick the
reasons and the final choice seemed to
just arise like instinct or a gut
reaction it seems like some aspect of my
brain did all this but whatever
conscious aspect of the brain just sort
of watched it happen okay but that was a
very simple basically random choice it
would make sense that the decision felt
for random as well so let's say we're
thinking of giving a hundred dollars to
a charity that is very good at getting
food to hungry families in our community
but we also really need a new toaster
ours is broken okay some deliberations
popping in same as with the cities maybe
some questions we want answered
different here though now we probably
have emotions involved let's say these
are some emotions we're feeling about
each option and we even have thoughts
about which options will lead to what
emotions but suffice to say we're not
choosing our emotions again the reasons
and emotions are just arising in our
consciousness another factor involved in
a decision like this is our values all
this deliberation and emotion seems to
be centered around the problem of which
option would lead to a better outcome
based on our definitions and feelings of
what a better outcome would be someone
who valued giving and charity then was
asked this question they would probably
have different reasons popping in and
come to a different decision than
someone who is mostly concerned with
themselves
for most people our decisions will be
more involved more ambiguous we often
don't know what constitutes better or
worse and then what will lead to better
or worse these kinds of decisions have a
lot more going on but did we find any
evidence for us picking our actions we
don't pick our emotions we don't pick
the ideas that occur to us and the final
decision was based on our values did we
choose our values or are they based on
DNA like a psychopath generally only
considering themselves incapable of
empathy and on the environment like how
those who grew up in abusive homes are
more likely to react to situations with
violence themselves and do I have the
values that I have because I grew up
with certain parents within a certain
community and made certain friends pay
attention to your thoughts and
intentions and the decisions you make
throughout the day what are the values
that seem to guide your thoughts we
really seem to be able to weigh options
and make important decisions but is your
conscious mind in control or is it just
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