williams@kirk.DEC (John Williams 223-3402) (08/06/85)
Let's say I have an arbitrary choice between going to the toy store, or going to the candy store. I have trouble deciding because I want both, but I can't possibly be in two places at the same time, and I have a limited amount of money I can spend at that time. This is called an arbitrary choice, and can further be defined as metastability, that is, carefully balanced between two or more states or decisions. If I were to wait until one of the choices became more desirable, I might be there forever, so, I make an arbitrary choice. I have no way of fully comprehending why I would choose one over the other, I want both equally. This is where even the least significant influence can have a profound effect. What I was trying to demonstrate is how an unmeasureable influence can affect your behaviour. This is a good example of a decision that has a high degree of freedom. John.