At a recent coffee klatch, Professor Lucius Flatley again took up the subject of decision-making, asking the assembled coffee drinkers if they were aware of the invisible forces of brain chemistry. He insisted that most choices made in day-to-day life are prompted by impulses lodged deep within the old brain case.

“We are captives of impulse,” he said. “As a matter of fact, we really have no idea what we’re doing.”

A visitor from Scarborough, Daniel Wardancer, a Native American horse trainer, agreed strongly, citing the action of Scarborough residents in several votes against turning Scarborough Downs into a major asset and tax income for the town.

“There’s no way they knew beans about what they were deciding,” Wardancer said.

Lucius informed Dan that there are two modes of thinking. The basic mode – intuitive – is inherited and it operates automatically with no voluntary control. With the exception of a few Old Testament folks in Kentucky who claim to have been brought on board fully trained, human beings are the product of time – much time – and intuitive thinking has been influenced by millions of years of precarious survival. Lightning inspires most dogs to intuitively seek shelter under the bed. In the same vein, congressmen “intuitively” make themselves scarce when they spot a “60 Minutes” TV crew outside their office. Like lightning, when there are money questions for politicians, “60 Minutes” is intuitively avoided.

In the logical thinking mode, people consciously recognize and evaluate the problem before making a decision. While logical decision-making can never be completely separate from the subconscious brain, research indicates that behavior can be modified by acquiring new patterns of behavior. Many intuitive responses serve poorly nowadays, and the best way to deal with them appears to be training – new habits. For example, alcoholics can stop drinking through altered behavior, going to A.A. meetings and remaining permanently in a new life routine.

The football coach Tony Dungy, who was hired to overhaul the losing Tampa Bay Buccaneers, taught them not to think. By training his players in an “automatic” response, Dungy removed the need for some part of logical decision-making.

“Glance at the outside foot of the lineman to see if he’s getting ready to step back. Watch the quarterback’s head movement to anticipate where he intends to throw the ball,” he’d say. (They won a few games, then went back to losing, and Dungy was forced to find another job.)

In an Israeli study, logical decision-making by a panel of parole judges was affected by intuition that was really remote – mild hunger. Shortly after these judges had dined, 65 percent of requests for parole were granted, with the rate dropping significantly as they grew hungry for the next meal.

Not all groups have shown progress as man evolved and began to replace intuition with logic. Some, in fact, still resemble the dog and lightning. Tea partiers’ decisions seem to be churned up from some kind primitive fear/response. Logical decision-making has been replaced by anger, threats and displays of hostilities – or by unreason, which calls for an unthinking “No” vote to any and all proposals.

Similarly, racial fear brings intuitive response in those with a racist heritage – either the color or the odd name of the president is enough stimulus for some to “hide under the bed.” Even an expert counselor like Lucius Flatley was at a loss to suggest any reprogramming plans for these unfortunates, except maybe to take away their bullhorns and colored crayons for sign making.

One drinker of black coffee suggested restricting NASCAR to vehicles 25 horsepower or less. Another suggested cutting out fatty food – and no Fox News for 90 days.

Rodney Quinn, who died Oct. 27, wrote several columns in advance for publication, which the newspaper will print through the coming weeks.