Thinking about the Situation -- Some Questions (with possible answers)
by Gordon L. Ziniewicz
1. What is a situation?
Set of conditions and persons here and now. These belong together by virtue of a common quality. In general, situations can be pleasant or unpleasant. In particular, situations can be problematic, frightening, confusing, chaotic, promising, beautiful, challenging, dangerous, etc. While I am in the bank and waiting to make a deposit, there is a holdup. The situation goes from being routine and predictable to dangerous.
What is included in a situation?
Persons, as well as their needs, desire, purposes, and the like. Things in the environment. Rules or laws. Anything that is going on or operating, any force that is moving in some direction. Conditions operate in certain ways; they have a kind of momentum unless they are redirected.
What distinguishes one situation from another?
A quality that seems to pervade the whole situation. It is not just something subjective. There is an objective quality that pervades and links conditions in the situation. A beautiful sunny day where everything seems to be going well has a certain quality.
2. What kinds of conditions are included in a situation?
Persons, ideas, goals, interests, emotions, habits, ideals, religious beliefs or non-beliefs, tables, chairs, climate, wall-colors, paperwork, lunch, staplers that don't work, coffee pots that overflow, computers that crash, phones that ring, etc.
CONDITIONS: Factors within a situation that influence the direction of change. These may include material conditions (physicochemical, biological, economic, technological, etc.), cultural conditions, and human moral conditions (habits, impulses, intelligence etc.). According to Dewey, many conditions move events toward outcomes. Intelligence and moral choice are conditions within the situation that direct or guide other conditions toward a planned favorable outcome. With or without human foresight and guidance, things happen (indeed, things are already happening). Human direction of the conditions of a situation or experience helps to make outcomes more favorable. Reflection sorts out conditions and identifies them as resources or obstacles.
Are our illusions about the situation included in the situation?
Yes, even our illusions or mistaken ideas are conditions that operate and affect things. Our prejudices are conditions. Our rose-colored glasses are conditions.
Are ideas part of a situation?
Our ideas and the ideas of others play a large role in the situation. Ideas do have consequences. Even our daydreaming has consequences. Ideas turn our attention in different directions and evoke all sorts of responses.
When does a situation become social?
When more than one person and his/her interests are involved. In a sense, every situation, even the most private, is heading in a direction that will affect others in some way. Nevertheless, there are situations that seem to involve a few persons most directly.
SOCIAL SITUATION: Situation in which a public, a "we," an association of individuals working together for common ends in view (social ends), must endeavor to direct economic, industrial, technological, social, and cultural conditions toward favorable anticipated outcomes. With or without human intervention, societal conditions are headed somewhere. An educated public can intervene to consciously direct some of the very powerful forces at work in the republic.
3. What makes a situation pleasant or good?
A unifying quality. Conditions are working together, rather than at odds or in conflict with one another. Things are coming together. Things are working out. Things are falling into place. Life is wonderful.
PLEASING SITUATION: Situation that is harmonious, aesthetically whole, complete (consummatory), satisfying, certain, well-resolved. Every situation has aspects or unities or some quality that can be immediately appreciated or aesthetically contemplated. A situation is pleasing when "everything comes together." It is especially pleasing when this unity is not accidental, but is the result of intelligent action, of "doing the right thing."
Give an example of an immediately satisfying situation.
Attending a concert with friends. Getting a raise in pay. Winning the lottery. Finishing a project successfully. Fixing the car. Being comfortable at an interview. Fall foliage in the mountains.
Can such a situation also have elements that are disturbing or call for some action?
Nothing is perfect. Conditions are satisfying when most or many conditions are working together, are in harmony, are headed in the same positive direction. Some conditions might be absent, might be conflicting, might be annoying. It was a great picnic, except for the killer bees.
4. What makes a situation problematic?
Things come to a halt. Autopilot doesn't work. Things aren't working out. Some conditions are missing; some conditions are downright antagonistic; some persons cause trouble; routines are disturbed. We're not getting what we want. Things are not working out as we expected. There is something wrong, something standing in the way of reaching a successful result.
PROBLEMATIC SITUATION: Situation that is perplexing, incomplete, confusing, uncertain, conflictual. Every situation is potentially problematic; improvement is always possible. In the problematic situation, the smooth flow of habit and movement in a particular direction comes to a thought-provoking halt. Thought continues where overt action left off, in order to find a way out of the present difficulties and through the present conditions, to project and revise ends, to imagine possible courses of action, to deliberate, to choose, and to resume overt action.
Is every situation potentially or actually problematic in some way?
There is always more to do. There is a fundamental tendency to try to appreciate things and to accept things as they are, even though they are not perfect. There is also a fundamental itch to change things and to make them better, no matter how good they might seem to be overall.
What makes some people seem to see a need for improvement in every situation?
The unexamined life is not worth living. Idealism. Perfectionism. Persistent desire to improve things, make things better. There is a time to stop and smell the roses and a time to plant more roses.
INTELLIGENCE: When habits don't work or they conflict with impulses or with the environment, the situation becomes problematic. One must stop to think, to analyze the situation, to figure out what went wrong and what to do about it. Present difficulties are an opportunity for thought. One examines the past. One faces the facts of the present situation. One imagines a way out of the present situation, a course of action leading to a favorable outcome. Intelligence is reflection upon what is needed to direct the conditions of the present situation. Intelligence increases with each new resolution and intervention. It is a learned behavior. Highly developed intelligence does not depend upon great crises; it goes looking for trouble and makes even apparently unproblematic situations problematic (recall Socrates).
5. What sparks reflection in the problematic situation?
Sometimes, when forward progress is obstructed, we stop acting "outwardly" or outside of our heads and we start acting "inwardly" or inside of our heads. Not getting to our goal makes us stop acting in order to think. We probably don't think about getting to the appointment on time until we get the flat tire. Not getting to our "goal" makes us think about the goal, as well as our strategy in attaining it. Conflict poses a dilemma and a "suggestion" or idea comes to mind.
How do habit and impulse operate in the situation?
Habits are practiced ways of doing things. They are routine methods. They are somewhat automatic and don't require reflection. Traditionally, moral "habits" are predispositions to behave in certain ways. Habits are efficient. They are good because they enable us to act without thinking. Unfortunately, they can cause trouble if conditions change and no longer cooperate with our habits. We find ourselves driving to our former residence, etc.
HABIT: Acquired tendency or disposition. Accustomed manner of acting, automatic as opposed to spontaneous. Routine and regular modes of acting. Personal habits are individualized versions of social tendencies; they are modified and adjusted by interaction with individual impulses and reflection.
What is the relation between habit and custom?
Customs are social habits -- usual ways of acting, believing, thinking, speaking, socializing, and the like. Groups of people develop customary ways of acting. Individuals tend to adopt customs as their own personal habits. Customs are passed on from old to young, from parents to children, from society to individuals. The media are vehicles for instilling customs.
CUSTOM: Tradition (collective experience), collective habit, social habit, conventionalized and institutionalized manner. Rearing and education of the young passes on customs -- found in religion, culture, literature, art, and politics. Customs and habits can both liberate and suppress human growth. Customs often conflict with customs; customs more often conflict with personal habits and impulses. New individual angles of vision stimulate the questioning and reconstruction of culture.
Can habits and customs conflict in the situation?
Debra is in the habit of acting honestly. Ben is in the habit of "creative accounting." Corporate "customs" can also conflict with personal habits or can conflict with society's customs. Laws are affirmations of customs.
Why is impulse often a good thing?
Immediate feelings or "gut reactions" or impulses can shake up a situation, make people think, and cause redirection of actual conditions. The guy in the front pew feels like yawning, so the reverend steps up the pace of the sermon. When things are calm, impulse can shake things up. Impulses are spontaneous feelings. Of course, having only impulses and always following impulses can cause lots of problems.
IMPULSE: Spontaneous release of energy, feeling, emotion, personal interest. Impulses are infinite in number and vary within each individual. Impulses are not simply "inborn," but develop through interaction with the environment. Behavior without the guidance of habit or intelligence is "impulsive," an outburst without control or conscious direction. Impulse means "just letting go." It is the basis of invention, creativity, and play. Both habits and impulses are "unthinking." Habits are a well oiled machine, and impulses are random outbursts. A balance of both is required for human conduct.
6. Are situations driven by habit or impulse "moral" in the strict sense?
Technically, moral action should be deliberate; i.e., it should involve some thinking, reflection, and choice between alternatives. Habit is automatic action without evaluation, criticism, or questioning. Incidentally, we can have habitual ways of thinking ("ruts"); these are ways of thinking (having opinions) without really thinking. Intellectual habits can be adopted from social custom (the way most people think). But moral action requires more than "autopilot."
MORAL SITUATION: A situation the outcome of which depends at least in part upon the intervention of human intelligence or thoughtful attempt to make things better rather than worse. The way things turn out (including mistakes) prompts reevaluation of ways of acting, as well as principles that help guide and direct action. Each situation is unique, yet different situations have things (conditions) in common. There is no clear dividing line between "practical" and "moral" situations. Everything one does has potential moral consequences. Nevertheless, some actions have more wide-ranging and long-term consequences (an argument for rehearsing action in the imagination).
What happens if we do not intervene in the situation?
Something will happen all the same. Present conditions will continue on their way and produce certain results or consequences. Doing nothing means letting things go on as they were, for good or for ill. If we use our intelligence to alter some conditions, then consequences will be different, however small that difference.
Why is intelligence or reflection needed for a situation to be "moral" or for conduct to be "moral"?
Action without thought is neither "moral" nor "immoral"; it is just action. "Moral" action requires choice; choice requires deliberation and forethought. If we say that a person acted "immorally," we mean that he or she voluntarily or deliberately did something wrong. If a person uses intelligence to change conditions for the better, we call that action "moral." Beings that act automatically or by instinct can be neither moral nor immoral, although they can be beastly or "foolish."
7. In the process of reflection, how might the imagination be involved in foresight of probable consequences?
We can picture how things will turn out, given the way things are headed or given the directions that conditions are taking. If the boss fires everybody who tries to present new ideas (or attempts to criticize outdated practices), we can predict what will happen to the company. We can picture the company or the situation one year from now. If Debra gives in to Ben, she can imagine what will happen to her and to the company. Conditions tend in certain directions, unless they are "redirected."
What helps the imagination in making such predictions?
Experience of results brought about by certain sets of conditions in the past.
How are prior experience and knowledge helpful?
These provide material similar to that in the present situation. Situations do have things in common. Similar situations have many conditions which are the same.
Why are these predictions sometimes or often wrong?
Situations are unique. Even the most similar situations have some conditions which are different. Some conditions might be present in one situation that were not present in the other. What if Ben, a rather benign person, were Joe, a violent and desperate individual? Furthermore, conditions that are overlooked can end up making a huge difference. It is sometimes hard to tell how things will turn out if we do nothing or if we intervene.
8. How does the imagination project aims or ends or purposes or ideals?
It successfully completes in the mind what is being stopped or slowed down in reality. It pictures a situation where everything comes together, works out, has unity or harmony. As you sit on the shoulder of the road with your flat tire, you picture yourself getting to the interview. You anticipate or imagine that if conditions don't change, you will not make it; but you "project" an imaginary favorable outcome. Because things aren't headed that way, there are conditions in the present that have to be changed.
Where does it get its "material" or "content" from?
Past satisfying situations or problematic situations that were made into satisfying ones. We know what it takes for things to work out. We want that to happen again.
How does it "idealize" (mentally rework) this content?
(1) It mentally adds missing positive conditions (resources). (2) It mentally subtracts existing negative conditions (obstacles). (3) It rearranges or orders things that are out of place. In a word, the imagination "doctors up" or "touches up" the facts of the present situation. The imagination is capable of "idealizing" or thinking things that don't exist, but it bases these creations on things drawn from experience. Unicorns don't exist, but horses exist; and so do horns. The creative imagination puts the two together. It rearranges old things in new ways. Debra pictures a workplace where all transactions are honest and truthful and where things work out well in the end. She pictures a workplace without Ben's deceit.
IDEALIZATION: Process of imagining a situation that is complete, harmonious, and without flaw, in which desirable aesthetic qualities are permanent. These are legitimate ends in view if they are connected to the means or processes or strategies that are necessary to bring them about. To idealize is to rework the material given in experience as a mental or imaginative conception (idea or ideal). What are often referred to as ideals are very general and indefinite far-ranging and remote anticipated consequences (a possible harmonious "big-picture" -- justice, the common good, etc.). Ideals constitute the overall direction or sense of direction of the path one traverses. They are felt as well as imagined. They give one a "sense of the whole," of unity on a large scale. They provide an indefinite background or aura to the foreground of the actual situation.
How could one distinguish ends from ideals?
Ideals are much more general than ends. For example, the ideal of a society where there is genuine liberty, equality, and fraternity is an emotionally charged and very general end that lights up or affects other "local" ends. Ends are simply projected favorable consequences that assist in the process of choosing and acting.
ENDS: Ends-in-view (imaginative projections based upon present conditions, desirable headings of present moving energies). Foreseen consequences, present anticipations of future outcomes. Ends must be distinguished from actual "results." Ends are in the present (present anticipations of future outcomes), giving meaning to present activity. They are "means" or instruments for directing or guiding or motivating present activity.
What is a "summum bonum?"
The highest good. What is most important. What is best. Everybody puts something first.
SUMMUM BONUM: Ultimate good (from the Latin), highest end or purpose. According to Dewey, there is no such thing. There are a variety of fulfillments possible. For Dewey, meaningful process is more important than static result; for Dewey, what is good is a highly individualized affair. As every action, person, and situation is a unique individual, so every end is unique and individual. On the other hand, there are regularities, common elements within experience. If there is a single good, it is growth.
GROWING OR GROWTH: The continuous reconstruction of experience, getting better, improving, perfecting, refining. Movement from disequilibrium to equilibrium. Simultaneous and codependent development of outer sympathy (circumference) and inner angle of vision (center). Process of unifying more and more diverse conditions tied to process of deepening and concentrating character; development of intelligence (practical wisdom). Growth means the same as education. Education means moral improvement. Moral improvement means improvement of oneself in the situation. Fixing oneself and fixing the situation cannot be separated, any more than bettering oneself and bettering society can be separated. Included are the individual, the environment, and the human community; growth is personal/social reform. Thus, the process is itself valuable. In a similar way, Dewey will say that democracy is an ideal; nevertheless growth or progress towards this ideal (democratizing human experience) is itself a good and is itself enjoyable. Movement in a positive direction bears with it a sense of meaningful continuity between means and ends.
What are "values?"
Things that are liked. Preferences. Things that matter.
VALUES: Things that matter, objects one desires or holds dear. The term may have a social or cultural meaning, referring to values held in common. There is no genuine social unity without values (valued objects) held in common.
What are some traditional purposes or ideals?
Pleasure, wealth, honor, virtue, and the like.
9. What is the difference between a mere wish or "wishful thinking" and a purpose?
A wish is a product of imagination. It need not be based on actual conditions or the requirements of the situation. In that sense, it is often "unrealistic." Debra might wish that Ben had never asked her to fabricate the numbers. Debra might wish that she had never taken this job. The past cannot be changed, so thinking of a different past is useless from a practical standpoint. It is also useless to think of an end or purpose which has no basis in actual conditions. Human beings have always dreamed of flying, but it was only a wish and not a purpose until certain conditions (material, scientific, and technological) were present. Purposes are ends which we deliberately want to bring about and which take stock of actual facts or conditions that are necessary. Purposes are worked out in concert with reality, not opposed to it. They are fashioned in terms of what is possible (given some modification of conditions).
Distinguish imagination for its own sake (fun, fantasy) from imagination for the sake of action (practical imagination) [see reading].
Artistic imagination is different from practical imagination. Artistic or aesthetic imagination aims at pure enjoyment of the image itself. Practical imagination aims at changing actual situations. Debra can sit and enjoy a daydream of a job she never got.
10. What is the function of sympathy or empathy in the situation?
Realistic assessment of actual conditions requires knowedge of things as they really are; this includes people, as well as their attitudes, motives, values, ends, and habits. Empathy means putting ourselves in others' shows, so we can see what they aim for and care about. The pursuit of our own ends often conflicts with others' pursuit of their ends. Realistically, this can bring everything to a halt. Working together and adjusting our ends to those of others removes obstacles and conflicts. All life with others requires accommodation and adjustment to the needs and ends of others.
How is the imagination involved?
We can't be the other person. We can only imagine, based on what we know of that individual and other individuals, what it might be like to see things from his or her perspective.
What "information" does the imagination have to work with in this regard?
We know what it is like to be a human being with desires and purposes. Human beings have things in common.
Does ethics (as way of acting) require empathy?
Even the egoist has to account for other human beings and their pursuits. Not paying attention to "all" the conditions in the situation, including persons, can result in lots of unintended consequences. Even more, it seems that working together with other human beings, rather than against them, seems to create situations which are socially satisfying. Even the competition of debate and disagreement seems to aim at a higher social purpose of community or democracy or mutually respecting persons. In the end, cooperation seems to be more efficient than conflict. In business, the question becomes one of a fine line between healthy competition (which makes things better) and unhealthy competition (which makes things worse).
SYMPATHY: Imaginatively "standing in another's shoes." Seeing actual conditions and possible consequences from the standpoint of other individuals. Appreciating their interests. Imagining the unique center or angle of vision of others as they and their striving touch upon the common world. The achievement of a social standpoint (the common good) by which to judge and act within the moral situation. Inclusion of consequences for others as unique individuals within the process of deliberation.
11. How does one identify "means" or resources in the situation?
Observe which forces are working, which conditions are headed or can be headed in the right direction (the end or purpose). What is right about the present situation? What energies are likely to lead to positive consequences?
What does one do about obstacles?
One can (1) get rid of them, (2) "steer" around them, or (3) change them into resources. A resource in one situation can be an obstacle in another, and vice versa.
Can some obstacles be "converted" to resources?
Sometimes, one can convert obstacles to resources by seeing them in a new way. It can happen that we call a condition an obstacle because it "goes against the grain" or opposes other conditions. Debra's honesty is an obstacle in the way of making the sale. It could be that other conditions, which seem to be working together, are really headed the wrong way. Sometimes obstacles reveal new opportunities and possibilities. The flat tire on the way to the interview might be a blessing in disguise (?). Obstacles are simply conditions that oppose the present collective course or flow of things.
What is the role of observation?
To see the facts as they really are. To understand what is really going on. To see all the elements operating in the situation.
How can prior experience or knowledge assist observation?
Things we see now are similar to things we have seen before.
12. Where do moral principles come from?
Usually, they come from prior personal or collective human experience. They are generalizations based upon patterns in acts and their consequences. They are "if...then..." hypotheses that help us to avoid mistakes and assist us in doing the right things. Debra holds back from "cooking the books," because it is wrong to do so. Human beings have judged that, generally and for the most part, fraud leads to disaster.
Explain the role of principles in the situation.
Principles provide guidance in making choices. They are maps that show us the best and the worst ways to go. They are useful insofar as they fit the present situation. They help us to rule out lousy alternatives, as well as to identify laudable ones. They make deliberation easier. Not every situation requires or deserves lengthy deliberation.
MORAL PRINCIPLES: Tools or instruments, working hypotheses that guide conduct. Principles are good or true if they work, if they help direct present affairs to favorable outcomes. They are not eternal nor fixed in stone. Like other factors, they are changeable and flexible. Like tools, they must be constantly modified to work in varying and evolving situations. Moral principles are means not ends, servants not masters in the moral situation. Like habits, moral principles are bequeathed from generation to generation, with alteration from time to time. Like scientific hypotheses, they are true as long as they work, as long as experience in the moral situation (a kind of scientific experiment) proves them valuable.
Explain the difference between "obeying" rules and "using" principles.
Principles are means in a situation. They help us to make good choices. They are not to be followed or "obeyed" in every circumstance. Somestimes, the right action has to break with conventional wisdom or traditional principles. What is wrong in most situations, could be right in a few exceptional cases. On the other hand, since moral principles are usually based upon wise and continued observation of patterns in human behavior, they should be taken very seriously and not be abandoned lightly.
What is meant by a "moral code"?
A coherent collection of moral principles.
What are some traditional principles?
See Judaic, Christian, Islamic Law. See also the "Sayings of Confucius" and many other sources.
13. Why does one need judgment as well as moral principles?
Judgment hits upon the right solution to the problem, the right action to improve the situation, the right words to enlighten the hearer. It steers around obstacles and with the aid of resources. It finds the "mean" between extremes of action and feeling. It does not overdo, and it does not underdo. Judgment means hitting this unique and particular nail on the head, finding the key that unlocks this situation.
JUDGMENT: Because moral principles are general and situations are particular, moral principles never completely fit the situation. Thus, moral principles can never substitute for intelligence. The right course of action is a particular, and hitting upon the particular requires a kind of "wisdom." Every situation presents new and unique problems and difficulties, where only new and unique solutions will work. "One must face facts, dream dreams, and act."
Should practical wisdom or ethical judgment be flexible?
Adjustment to actual conditions as they really are. There is no such thing as choice or action in the abstract.
Do some situations call for more "judgment" than others?
In some situations, right and wrong are not easy to determine. There are many things going on.
Why do you think this is so?
This is a bit subjective. It is easier to solve problems on paper than it is to change real-life situations for the better.
14. Explain the process of deliberation and its need for imagination.
Deliberation is the process of considering alternative courses of action, alternative solutions to the problem, or alternative "ways out." One tries out different ways of acting in the mind; one rehearses them mentally to predict how they might turn out. One tests each alternative in the light of principles, actual conditions, and ends sought. Which one seems most likely to work? Which one seems to satisfy most of the relevant conditions?
DELIBERATION: Rehearsal in the imagination of possible courses of action, acting in one's imagination. One imagines what he might do and what consequences might follow. If one imagines favorable consequences without considering possible courses of action that might lead to those consequences, he is engaging in wishful thinking. Thus, deliberation holds together means and ends, actions and consequences. Imagined favorable consequences, stripped from their relation to possible actions, can become objects of worship, if one forgets their origin in deliberation, if one forgets what they were for in the first place. Imagining ideals or ends or consequences is part of a process of trying to figure out how to fix a situation. Superstition is an illusory short cut from real to ideal, without passing through hard work and effort. Deliberation is a momentary detachment or withdrawal from the outward situation in order to figure out how to reconstruct or redirect the situation. It is a strategic retreat rather than an escape. It is an "inward" reflection upon an "outward" situation.
How many alternatives are enough?
Hmmm... One needs at least two. If there is only one possible course of action, then there is only one alternative -- not doing anything at all. In a sense, doing nothing is always an alternative. But usuually there are more options available.
When can one stop deliberating?
When one has hit upon the right or best course of action. Once one has hit upon the right one, the one that fits the situation, there is no more need for deliberation. In fact, what usually happens is that one tries to "work with" the best alternative and adjust it further in the light of facts and ideals. For example, once Debra decides she is going to tell Ben she won't do it, she has to figure out how best to carry out this course of action. So reasonably good alternatives have to be modified and adjusted in the imagination.
Why is it so important to try out actions in the imagination -- predicting how they will turn out -- before actually acting?
It is safer that way. Bad imaginary consequences are far less harmful than bad real consequences. Much harm is done when people learn from mistakes that make things for oneself and others worse. The imagination is a kind of laboratory where actions can be tested safely, so long as one interprets the results honestly.
15. What does it mean to hit upon a right action that seems "just right?"
This is what it means to choose. As best as one can tell, it is the best thing one can do in the present situation. It seems to meet many of the requirements; it seems to take best account of the conditions; it seems likely to work or to have the best outcomes. It does not seem to make things worse, and it seems likely to make things better. Moreover, it seems to make the doer better rather than worse, and it seems to take account of the well-being of others. Discovering this right action gives one a feeling of "rightness," insight, or relief; it is as when a scientist discovers something new, a writer finds the right words, or a painter makes the right strokes. At this point, there is both energy and commitment to action.
RIGHT ACTION: Appropriate action, action that fits the requirements of a particular situation. Each solution, like each situation, is unique. Yet solutions also have things in common, which makes knowledge drawn from experience essential, but not sufficient by itself (the importance of flexible judgment).
How can one tell later on whether it really was "just right"?
Insofar as the real positive consequences are in accord with the anticipated ones. That means that important facts were not overlooked and that important principles were not ignored. Ben may foresee good things happening for him and the division if the numbers are "adjusted," but the actual consequences may not correspond to this "picture." There may be consequences he did not anticipate.
Explain choice.
Ending deliberation. Finding the right course of action. See above.
CHOICE: Ending deliberation of alternatives; initiating dynamic alignment (working together) of habits and impulses, in conjunction with environmental conditions (deliberation or reflection is finally completed in action); resolution of a conflictual situation. One possible course of action seems to fit the bill, to bring a new harmony out of all subjective factors (habits and impulses) and objective factors (real conditions). Everything seems to fit together. The projected course of action is a solution. It is a good choice if many factors and alternatives have been openly considered and objectively weighed. It is a bad choice if it is based on bias (dominance of a single habit) or based on thoughtless impulse.
16. What if things turn out differently from the way we have anticipated? How can we account for this?
We missed something. We didn't listen to advice. We didn't observe the facts. Our goals were not "practical." We made a mistake.
What does it mean to learn from experience?
To devise or revise guidelines, change hyportheses, connect acts with consequences differently, come up with new "theory."
How does what we have learned help us to revise purposes, principles, knowledge, etc.?
We fashion goals in the light of actual facts. We change principles so that they fit more cases.
17. Examine Debra's situation ("Cooking the Books"). Observe. Propose ends and means. Deliberate. Find a way out. Make the whole situation better, if you can.