Hi Tracy!
Thanks for hosting this forum!
In looking at making decisions, we often make a few assumptions that E. Stone mentions in her Paradox of Policy Analysis book regarding influencing those deciding factors - among them, that we are all rational beings, that we will be flexible in our thinking, and that we are all united for the common good. Even more interesting and to your point - for those who believe in past lives (spiritual, physical, or otherwise), does the influence on how we make decisions stem even further back than we can imagine?