ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a collection of considerations and thoughts about Reactivity and Deliberation, two key decision-making system mechanisms. Reactivity is about the ability of an agent to be responsive when stimuli are perceived in its environment, while deliberation is about the ability of an agent to make decisions and engage consequent actions. Based on reactivity and deliberation definitions, it is effectively possible to conclude that reactivity and deliberation can be merged together as long as the deliberation implementation allows for taking decisions and engaging actions in a very short time. Considering the different natures of the reactivity and deliberation mechanisms, trying to unify them is very challenging: reactivity is mostly about interruptions while deliberation is mostly about sustaining states. Any attempt to conciliate them using a unique model is trying to represent conceptual antipodes. Reactivity is concerned with “danger awareness,” whereas deliberation deals with procedural knowledge.
