M5:D6 (D414) How do you make decisions?

When a decision is made with emotions we tend to stick to preconceived notions.  The decision is more about feelings than what the facts show.  Everyone holds certain preconceived notions about things.  Those preconceived notions are generally based upon emotions.  For instance, most people believe that the best way to lose weight is to simply cut calories.  They don't want to work hard, so they avoid the gym.  Their preconceived notion that the best way to lose weight is to cut calories takes over.  When faced with the decision to get in shape, they fall back on their preconceived notion that they need to cut calories.  Once they've fallen back on their preconceived notion, most people won't bother to even listen to things that contradict that preconceived notion.  The fact is that emotional decisions are made in order to make us feel better.

When a decision is made with one's intellect it is quite a different story.  Intellectual decisions tend to be well thought out.  These types of decisions involve alot of thought and analysis.  Most of the time they are based upon data that has been collected.  Things have been weighed and examined and a decision has been rendered.  With this type of decision, if something is presented that contradicts the facts as seen so far, that new information is weighed and considered alongside the already collected data.  If a change is needed in the decision it is made.

Which way is the better way to make a decision?  I personally believe in the intellectual method because I feel the best way to make a decision is to consider all the facts.  An emotional decision has an air of uncertainty about it.  It feels like a collapse can happen at any point.  There just isn't a sense of comfort when a decision is made purely on emotions.