Is it possible to make an objective decision?

Question

If objective is defined as "free of any bias or prejudice caused by personal feelings" then how can one make an objective determination or judgment? Is it possible to separate yourself from ALL feeling, both negative and positive, regarding the topic in which you are studying?

How do you separate yourself from all emotion and feelings?

Thank you for the explanation Pangel, hugs.

Acid Zebra - So let's say you and your girlfriend are trying to decide to end her pregnancy or not. You going to flip a coin? I'm talking about trying to make an objective decision about something personal and important in your life...

Answer 1

it is possible , and something I have had to do myself
not an easy task mind you
and it did lead to me having to alter some of my beliefs as a result

this is difficult to explain
as you know my beliefs , and that I believe in spirit communication etc
I enrolled in a psychical research course to attempt to look at what I believed in a more skeptical and scientific way
at the time , I was new to spiritualism and believed in all i was reading with passion
but some of the things I was studying at university was contradicting certain things I had been taught in the past
now i respected these tutors very much , given their history

so I had to consciously approach the subject almost as if I was learning through someone else
as a beginner to the subject , even though I had been studying it for years

sorry this is the only way I can explain it

edit
on a personal level
as a carer for my husband
sometimes I have to remove myself from being a wife to better cope with situations that arise
Buddhists would call this detachment

Answer 2

An objective determination or judgement can only come from a mind that is free from judgement. The natural mind bases all of its ability to even think, on history. Because something happened a certain way before it is going to happen that way again. To me this is stinking thinking. You do not know the future, only God does. We might have faith in something, but is it blind faith or is it faith based on what we have accepted as truth? To make a detemination on something to the point of judgement is a dangerous business because we are assuming that it will never be any different. What we can do is to determine where something is at right now, and that if nothing changes it will remain the same. Divorce is a judgement based on determination. It is like coming to a conclusion that nothing is going to change for the person you are diviorcing. Or it is like saying that it will never change if the two people are together. Think about that determination; it has to be based on judgement of the other person or yourself to the point of saying you can't change and it is someone elses fault. I would agee that you may be stymied in your abilty to look at things differently, but change can come and change will come. I guess I made these points to say that all determination is based on the way you see things at the moment. The dangerous thing about it is that it can lock that judgement in yourself by the need to be right. The more you lock it in the worse it is when it does change. It is best to let God do the judgement and determination, and just go with the flow. If it is in your job and you are the boss, then you must make your judgement, only in relation to the job. Make it a point to consult with the knower of all, God/Truth. If you do this then you will always be right.

Answer 3

Jn 7:23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."

This is the quintessential line on judging. Apparently Jesus believed the Pharisee's could make a righteous judgment. While it is difficult to extricate our feelings sometimes, I don't believe it is impossible. Paul wrote "don't' you know you will judge angels?" So-with God's help and guidance it is certainly very doable. It is simply done by the corrupt that are in power so often that fair judging is an all too often rare commodity.

Answer 4

It is possible, but difficult. Past experiences shade our judgment even on a subconscious level. Even something as insignificant as a TV show will leave a lasting impression on the psyche and soul depending on how you viewed the characters involved and your emotional state at he time you saw the show. (this is how advertisers make money,lol)

The closer you are to any given situation and the more emotional your are about other aspects for your life may dictate how objective you can be. It can be extremely difficult not to allow emotion and past experience color your decision making.

On a daily basis I must make use of my objectivity, be "cold" and scientific minded. I must analyze and consider ONLY the facts and make decisions and advise appropriately. I work in Veterinary Medicine and I like animals more than I do people, but I can not allow this to affect how I view/ treat each case

Answer 5

No. objectivity is subjectively defined...

We can make informed decisions.

I think it may be possible in a limited way, but we would have to be so dispassionate and apathetic about the decision to be made that there would be n point in making the decision

Answer 6

No, not totally. I don't believe a person can ever completely remove emotion from the decision making process. But an intelligent, rational person can get pretty damn close.

Answer 7

It is possible, but extremely hard to achieve. For example, if I'm having a discussion with someone and we disagree, I usually step into that person's shoes to see what it looks like to be there. It helps me a lot in keeping my objectivity.

Answer 8

i think it would be very difficult to make a decision with out any feelings. due to the fact, in my own experience, you go with the feeling you have, good is yes, bad is no, usually.

i believe judges have a real hard time making decisions based on facts and not on feelings, i know it can be done with any thing you decide on, but it is real hard.

Answer 9

Higher ego clarity (chakras)produces more objectivity. But as long as there is an observer (subject) there is subjectivity.

Answer 10

we can't our brains are not wired to be objective. if they were we would be robots.

the only way we are able to deal with so much conflicting information being processed by our brain is to be completely subjective about everything.

no such thing as absolute objectivity.