The Decision Trap

This important book could not be less similar in its slant than the one immediately above. The framework within which the discussions of the book take place is one of genetic determinism, statistics and risk management. While Chopra and Tanzi explain that epigenetics means that our genome is responsive to choices and the environment, genetic counsellors in the US give patients a lesson in genetics using a paradigm of managerial rationality as they describe genetic risks and test options in a way that makes their clients dependent on experts and technology. Paradoxically, the opportunity provided for an informed choice is ultimately disempowering. The clients become gene carriers, risk carriers and statistical constructs with a risk profile so that they are left with a sense of helpless self-determination. This is the decision trap of the title imposed by the system, a form of disempowering autonomy. The book is a powerful and necessary critique of what is essentially a left hemisphere mindset.