Entscheidungsprozesse und Erwartungserwartungen

This book addresses the question of how decision-making processes can be re-modeled using theories of self-organization. As a counterpoint to the classical concept of a rational choice action, the notion of expectation is central, along with the expectation of expectations, which serves as the foundation of every communication process. When decision-making processes are based on expectation structures, the everyday calculus is not utility maximization, but rather conformity or deviation from what is inherently expected and what is anticipated in the social context. The aim is to elucidate observation, expectation, and responsibility as fundamental elements of decision-making processes through a combination of sociological systems theory (Niklas Luhmann) and second-order cybernetics (Heinz von Förster). Here, observation involves the use of a distinction (Spencer Brown). System processes evolve as a phenomenon of modernity from action to decision, thereby increasing their internal complexity. Whether and how systems cope with this remains undecided.