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Have you ever made a decision in a group that was worse than the decision you would have made alone? What were the factors operating on you that inhibited you from helping the group make a better decision? Similarly, have you ever made a decision in a group that was better than the decision you would have made alone? Why was the group decision superior? What factors seemed to contribute most to the better decision?
Imagine two different groups of burglars, one with members whose decision rules attempt to minimize losses and another whose rules attempt to maximize gains. Can you envision how these two different orientations could affect their joint decision making? To the burglars, what might be the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?
Each type of decision making is appropriate under certain circumstances. Which types of decisions do you think a leader should make, or under what kinds of circumstances do you think it is all right for a leader to make a decision for a group? Which decisions are necessary to reach by consensus? Which by majority vote?
It is easy to shortchange the decision-making process, and that may be perfectly acceptable under certain circumstances. Under what circumstances, or for which types of decisions, do you think it is okay to shortchange the decision-making process? For which decisions should you never shortchange the process? Can you give specific examples?
After the school shootings in Littleton, Colorado, many people said that watching violent television or a lack of gun control was the cause of the violence in schools. Arguments were made for censoring television or for enacting stricter gun control laws. How valid do you think these arguments are?
