Logic of Decisions

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“If we go by pure logic, no one has any reason to eat this double chocolate muffin,” Jigneshbhai remarked the other day.

Swami scowled with his mouth full of two bites of it. “It’s logical to have it for its taste,” he said.

“But logically, it’s not good for health, especially the frequency with which we have it,” Jigneshbhai teased Swami.

“By another logic, having it once in a while is good for mental health and well-being,” Swami winked, gulping down the mouthful with a sip of coffee.

Jigneshbhai smiled and looked into blank space for a few moments. Swami and I knew something was cooking.

“There are many logical arguments to every side,” Jigneshbhai said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Swami also broke into a loud laugh and along with him, we enjoyed the wonderful coffee. There were no two views on it.

“But we don’t decide based on logic. We decide first most of the times, and then give a logic for it,” Jigneshbhai said.

Swami and I gave him a queer look as we had thought the subject had come to a logical close. But apparently it hadn’t. Jigneshbhai still had something to say. And when he has said something, can Swami be far behind?

“That doesn’t sound logical to me. I think I decide based on rational logic,” Swami claimed, and then smiled realising that he had made a claim that couldn’t be supported by any logic.

As an afterthought he added, “But I thought you are the rational guy who takes decisions based on logic,” and looked at Jigneshbhai.

“Even I don’t decide based on only logic fully,” Jigneshbhai confessed. That was a surprise for both me and Swami.

“And all these years, I have been taking your advice thinking it’s always logical,” Swami teased.

“Well, it is, but not entirely,” Jigneshbhai said, and stared into blank space. “I wonder if we decide and then look for logic to explain it.”

Swami and I pondered over it for a while. Perhaps, that was how we were. It was logically nice to appear logical. But most of times, logic could explain any decision after it was taken.

That’s when we saw the wealthy old man walking towards our table from the next. He had been listening in as always.

He resolved our quandary when he came towards us and said, “All options in a decision have some logic till you decide. After you decide, what you decided is most logical.”

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