it depends one what you mean by "making decisions". If making
decisions means acting, people is making decisions more or less
continuously. Like animals do it. A lion is sleeping for as long as
his belly is full of meat, it needs a lot of time to digest his food.
Or could be simply sleeping, or just laying, because the weather is
too hot for go hunting.
Then, animals have habits of behavior as well as humans. Then, to
each instance of behavior you can say he has made a decision. But
this to me do not look perfectly clear.
When I am typing, my fingers go automatically towards each key without
any need to think. And when in a hot weather we look for the shade,
to get a little cool, this is not a decision either, is an automatic
behavior.
Then, if we reserve the idea of "making decisions" for those instances
in which we act after a more or less long period of hesitation... does
it means this piece of acting was the result of a decision? Why were
we hesitating? What was the reason for out hesitation?
Perhaps, our mind for being forced to act for reasons we do not like
at all, like when you had received an order to present to the office
of recruitment, for you are required to enlist for a war on course.
So, you dislike the idea of going to war, and you are pondering what
would be the consequences of not presenting yourself on that office.
You are pondering the rights and wrongs of either decision, to
present yourself or not to the office of recruitment. Then, you do
not like any of the options, as far as you are guessing the
consequences of any of those actions; to go or not to go. Then, in a
moment, this day or the next day, you go or not go. This is called a
decision, not for you like to do, but because you do not like it at
all. You simply act forced by an outside power to you. Then, in a
way, to accept an act we do not like at all, can be call a decision.
An example, you are condemned to die by hanging on a rope. You can
decide to go on your own foot, or if the officers would carry to you
to the site where your are going to be hanged. Then, to ponder this,
you have to think about your own image. How do you want to be seen?
You want people see you go meekly to your own execution? Or would you
prefer to go proudly with you head up like challenging the world? It
is mostly a question of your own image. Even the guards that have the
task of bringing you to the place of your death, would prefer you go
on your own foot and very proud of your fate, and your deeds.
But these actions can be called "decisions"? Can you say about a
tennis player that he is making a decision each time he moves to hit
the ball that come flying to his side? I think, that the acts more
or less automatic, cannot be decisions. We call decisions to those
acts we perform after much doubts and hesitations, after a great deal
of pondering.
Then, the real meaning of a decision is insecurity and fear of the
consequences of either acting or holding back our acting. It simple
means, we felt not sure or we dislike the probably consequences of our
acting.
It the expectation of our acts would clearly pleasant, without any
hint of fear, we would act like automatically; we would not hesitate
at all, like when we are playing tennis, and all our intentions are
focusing on hitting the ball back with our racket. An automatic
behavior, like when we drink a beer.
Perseus