2.c) System development and political decision-making

It seems as if there is no exclusive decision-making centre in the human brain. In fact, there are acts called reflexes that are carried out by our entire body. Also, modern biology teaches us how the body's different organs and cells emit signals and communicate between one another.

If there were a decision-making centre, you could say that this is where life is found, and the rest would be nothing more than a type of somewhat complicated machine. Of course, we would have to ask how many cells are in this centre and which of them have the power of decision. More so, what part of this hypothetical cell would really be the part that makes the final decision?

An interesting characteristic of the decisions that we make is the degree of confidence we give them, in other words, how convinced we are of the decision and the stability of a specific decision.

Sometimes we are obviously convinced, other times we are not completely sure about everything, and other times we feel very insecure about the decisions we make.

This effect can be clearly observed in decision-making processes that are made recurrently. It seems reasonable that decisions made with total security are maintained over time by means of predetermined systems of development; however, this is not the case. Sometimes people change their mind, even in the short-term, in spite of their initial confidence in the stability of the decision adopted. An interesting topic for the theory of decision.

Our will can change in spite of the fact that the information has not been altered and the same logic has been employed; this deals, in some form, with the slightly schizophrenic side in all of us.

A model of the decision-making processes (that can explain and integrate the possibilities stated in the previous paragraphs) should count on expert systems and systems of control. That is, it may be something like development of dynamic systems similar to a country's political system.

In normal situations we can find decision-making processes such as: 

• Automatic decisions.
  A multitude of small decision-making processes are made unconsciously due to the development of systems of information having been produced that indentify necessary and sufficient parameters. Using our example, these would be all of those decisions that do not follow parliamentary procedures or are not dealt with by the government because they lack sufficient organization or the existence of previous laws on the subject.
  
  
• Reflexive and semi-reflexive acts.
  In dangerous or emergency situations decisions are made immediately; they are then evaluated afterwards, and if needed, the guidelines for future behaviour are changed or adjusted with the development of dynamic systems.
  It is easy to observe the parallelism with the functioning of a modern state, although the danger or urgency would be slightly fictitious at times.
  
  
• Overall immediate consultation.
  It is something like if each and every one of our cells voted on a particular subject. A priori, it is one of the best systems and supposes a direct democracy without any type of filter.
  It would be the equivalent of a referendum. A large power of information transmission is required to carry this out, especially if we are speaking about billions of cells, and the transmission occurs often. The dynamics of complex systems will surely limit the use of this type more than necessary.

• Representation.
  • Simple majority.
  • Reinforced majority
    It is assumed that nature has resolved, or tries to reasonably resolve, the problem in regards to the minorities in the theory of decision.
  • Organic - territorial - functional
    Other problems that are still considered normal situations can be resolved with these types of representation. They not only deal with respecting the minorities but rather recognizing their special relevance in particular subjects.

• Other channels that take in specific situations.
  The equivalent of a political system could be called factual powers.

However, certain behaviour does not seem to follow the indicated guidelines of the theory of decision; the model needs to integrate more elements that help to explain some decisions that, in some fashion, express important alterations of a person's character.

We are referring to vices of will that alter expert systems or systems of control that make up the system of dynamic equilibrium of will such as:

• Sicknesses.
• Drugs.
• Other internal chemical processes.

Unfortunately, although it cannot be in any other way, this type of example is also found in conventional political systems.