decision making

What do Herman Mellville's Bartleby the Scrivener, and theoretical models of judicial decision making have in common? Well, for starters no one gives a shit about either, but the two do have interesting similarities.

Bartleby was a fictional common worker, law scribe to be exact, that simply began to prefer not to do anything in life--eating and work included. Thus his quintessential phrase, "I would prefer not to," when asked to do anything.

In judicial decision making, there are two models that attempt to make judicial decision making more understandable and predictable to the common man.

The Attitudinal Model of judicial decision making assumes justices are going to vote according to their own personal ideological preferences without considering external factors. This is called "sincere" voting as jurists will sincerely adhere toward making the choices they alone preference.

The Strategic Model asserts that members of the judiciary consider external forces when making decisions, thus balancing personal attitudinal preferences with foreign influences to arrive at a "sophisticated" intermediary decision. They try to obtain their sincere preferences, but in light of this unavailability due to external forces such as the president's views or congress's they shift voting accordingly.

And of course, none of this matters to anyone but that's why its on my blog....because it matters to me. In life, there are many things I would simply "prefer not to do." But occasionally I do them anyway--a sophisticated decision to make others happy and pleased by my actions. But, other times I act according to my sincere preferences and do whatever the hell it is that I want to without regard to anyone.

When I don't think about the repercussions of an action, then that is my sincere preferential decision. I thought of nothing else outside of what I wanted to do. When I consider what other people want or think before I act then of course that is a sophisticated maneuver derived from careful analytical considerations.

However, no one will ever know these things about me. If I happen to fuck someone over in life, was it a cold calculated procedure of malice, or did I make a snap judgment on a whim without considering the potential consequences of my actions? The world will never know! But I will.

Lastly, I would like to point out the beauty in life where a sophisticated decision perfectly coincides with a sincere preference to do something. Like calling an out-of-touch friend not only because I want to talk to them (sincere), but also because the gesture of my phone call will make them happy (sophisticated). Or, if I ignore a girl at a social function because I honestly don't want to talk to her (sincere), but also because another girl I would rather talk to might get mad or jealous, and this would avoid controversy (sophisticated). Or lastly, if I obligate myself to multiple social functions in one evening because I earnestly do want to go out (sincere), but I analytically choose to attend the one where I will have the best time (sophisticated). BOOM!

People misunderstand sincerity. They narrowly associate the term with good intentions. Not true. I can sincerely hate someone just as much as I can sincerely love them. The only thing that makes it sincere is if I'm making a decision where I intrinsically consider my intentions and preferences as the only factor.

Chew on that for a minute, and then realize that we are all selfish, sophisticated, and sincere assholes. Then read Bartleby the Scrivener, and realize that you control your own humanity by doing the things you prefer, and well calculated sophistic decisions are what make the world go round.