Choice is in fact a basic component of our existence and one that has perhaps been overlooked over many centuries except for the various advances in the philosophical sphere in the reasoning of choice as an aesthetic component of our lives. However, I, on the other hand, hold in the highest belief that all living organisms are capable of choice and evolve towards developing that characteristics. In the course of one of my cogitations one fateful day, while I strolled casually through my yard, the idea struck me that maybe choice as an aesthetic concept is not an aesthetic concept in its entirety but also a physical one, that depends upon biological processes just as life and death and reproduction and other basic characteristics of living things and could be measured with mathematics and physics. But this is not asking for much than is deserved, when we look around us, we see the concept of choice more elucidated than almost anything else. This man chooses to board a cab rather walk, another man chooses to board a cab over another cab while another man chooses not to board a cab at all.
So what is choice and what windows does the understanding of the concept in scientific light open for us?
Choice
Choice basically can be defined as the act, opportunity or power to choose between two or more possibilities, or the opportunity or power to make a decision.
One is presented with at least two different opportunities and the brain has to make a proclivity towards one of the options and even perhaps both of them or also none of them.
Probability: the mathematics of choice.
Probability, in English terms, can be defined as a chance that something will happen or the quality or state of something being probable. However, in mathematics, probability can be defined as a measure of how often a particular event will happen if something (such as tossing a coin or making a decision) is done repeatedly. In simpler words, do something and do it again and there can be a measure and even a pattern in the decision making processes.
In probability, the number 1 signifies the possibility of an event occurring all the time, and the number 0 signifies the probability of the event never occurring at any of the time.
Probability is the most suitable mathematics for the measure of choice as well as the measure of repetition of choice i.e. the choosing of a specific option over and over and over again. As with the example of the man boarding a cab, the probability of him boarding the cab may vary at different time such that at one time he might board a cab, at another time he might not board a cab or he might even take a bus. Hence, probability enables us to measure with finite accuracy the likelihood of the man making a choice of whether to board a cab, a bus or walking down the lonely quiet road.
Buridan’s Donkey, Free will and indecision
Buridan’s donkey is a mind experiment that illustrate a paradox in the philosophical conception of free will. In this experiment, a hypothetical situation is created where a hungry donkey is placed precisely in between two stacks of hay while assuming that the donkey will always go to whichever one is closer, it will die of hunger simply because it cannot make any rational decision between both hays.
However, while buridan’s donkey attempts to satirize the philosophy of moral determinism, it also conceives a necessity of choice and free will; a donkey stuck between two stacks of hay must of necessity choose one or both or neither (the consequences for either choice is not elucidated here, although, if the donkey chooses not to eat any of the hays, it would die of hunger.)
Using probability to explain the buridan’s donkey, let the haystack at the left of the donkey be labeled H1 and let the haystack at the right of the donkey be labelled H2,
The probability that the donkey would eat H1 and not eat H2 is P{H1,H2} = P{1,0}
The probability that the donkey would eat H1 and not eat H2 is P{H1,H2}= P{0,1}
The probability that the donkey would eat both H1 and H2 is P{H1,H2}= P{1,1}
The probability that the donkey would eat neither both H1 nor H2 is P{H1,H2}= P{0,0}
This last probability P{0,0} is what we call indecision or indecisiveness where the donkey would not be able to choose between any of the haystack. However, such probability exists only hypothetically since in a real world situation, the intrinsic characteristic of choice under the constraint of hunger would force the donkey to eat one of the haystack.
The probability that the donkey would eat H1 and maybe eat H2 later is P{H1,H2}= P{1,-1}
The probability that the donkey would at H2 and maybe eat H1 later is P{H1,H2}=P{-1,1}
Where choice comes from or originates is still a matter of question. However, what cannot be disputed is its necessity and how important the role decision making play in our lives. When we decide to pick our phone or not to, to go to bed and to brush our teeth, and even success itself begins with the concept of choice. First you choose, then every other process begins. Thank you for reading and do remember to stay scientific, always.
Reference List:
Leslie Lamport (1984). Buridan's Principle. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
Niederman, Derrick (2012). The Puzzler's Dilemma. Penguin. p. 130. ISBN 1101560878.
Olofsson, Peter (2005) Probability, Statistics, and Stochastic Processes, Wiley-Interscience. 504 pp ISBN 0-471-67969-0.
Image source Pixabay & Wikimedia:
Image one, [https://pixabay.com/en/choice-select-decide-decision-vote-2692575/]
Image two, [https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deliberations_of_Congress]