decision theory
Optimal selection framework
Decision theory is the study of how rational agents should make choices, especially under uncertainty.
It provides frameworks for weighing outcomes, probabilities, and preferences to identify optimal decisions.
The field spans economics, philosophy, psychology, and artificial intelligence, distinguishing between normative theory (how decisions *should* be made) and descriptive theory (how they *are* made).
- riskPossibility of harm
- risk aversionPreference for certainty
- rational choiceLogically optimal decision
- cognitive biasSystematic deviation from rationality
- satisficingAccepting adequate over optimal
cost-benefit analysis · sunk cost · regret · minimax · optimization · cybernetics · heuristics · judgment call · weighing options · information processing · gain · preference · maximize · choice · strategy · payoff · expected value · uncertainty
decision theoryguesswork
Conclusions drawn without proof
coin flip · gut feeling · whim · caprice · shooting from the hip
decision theoryintuition
Instinctive immediate understanding
instinct · faith · mysticism · superstition · divination
decision theorydeterminism
Doctrine of causal necessity
fatalism · predestination · indecision · paralysis · passivity
decision, theory, decided, decisive, indecisive, undecided, decidedly, indecision, decisions