Tragedy Blog 6: Are we in control of our own decisions?

   The TED Talk, “Are we in control of our own decisions?” is both terrifying and stimulating. On one hand it is very interesting to think about what influences our decision making, but on the other it is terrifying to think that we are not really in control of our lives. In the presentation, the Dan Ariely gave an example of a study where people chose option A over option C because option B made option A look like a better deal. On the surface, this seems like a rational decision, but at it’s core I believe that it says a lot more about our human nature. In essence, we are always looking for the next best thing. Our decisions reflect this. The problem is that we don’t actually know our preferences. It turns out that we can be easily manipulated by the environmental pressures that surround us.    

​   Ariely states that “intuition fools us even after we are shown reality.” He used an optical illusion to illustrate this fact, but it pertains to many more than just simple illusions. In Oedipus Rex for example, when Jocasta tells Oedipus of Laius’ death, Oedipus knows that he is the murderer, but tries to come up with excuses for his actions. He did all that he could to stop the prophecy from coming true. He thought he was making conscious decisions to stop himself from killing his father, but in the end he failed. It makes one wonder if his decisions were really his own. If there is no such thing as free will, then there was nothing Oedipus could have done to stop his fate. It can be hard to accept this notion, but at least in Oedipus’ case, it was true.

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