Title Deciding in times of crisis Biography Jose Luis Verdegay is Full Professor of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Granada (Spain) since 1990. He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Mathematics (1975) and Doctor of Science (1981) from the University of Granada. Currently teaches at the School of Computer Science and Telecommunication Engineering (ranked in the Top 100 World Rank of the ARWU Computer Science and Engineering last version) of the University of Granada. He has been Principal Investigator in numerous regional, national and international research projects subsidized with public funds. He is an Advisory Editor of the International Journal Fuzzy Sets and Systems and member of the Editorial Committees of the International Journal of Uncertainty, Fuzziness and Knowledge-Based Systems (IJUFKS), Fuzzy Optimization and Decision Making, Iranian Journal of Fuzzy Systems and Control and Cybernetics. He also is member of the Program Committee of congresses in his area of specialization (IEEE, IPMU, IFSA...). As far as publications is concerned, by the present time he has been advisor of 21 doctoral theses. He is editor, co-editor or author of 29 books on topics of his specialty and has published more than 375 scientific papers in journals, conferences proceedings and books of his field of interest. Jose Luis Verdegay has the special teaching category of Guest Professor of the Jose Antonio Echeverria Polytechnic Higher Institute of Havana and the Marta Abreu de las Villas Central University, both of Cuba. He is a "fellow" of the International Fuzzy Systems Association (IFSA), "IEEE Senior Member", and an Honorary Member of the Academy of Mathematics and Computing of Cuba. Abstract To build Intelligent Systems that act in daily life like people do, it is very important to know in depth the mechanisms that govern the decision processes that human beings follow. The context in which a decision process is developed is a key stone that needs to be known in depth. In this talsk, this point is described and analysed. Accordingly the classical definition of General Decision Problem is modified and, by means of a simple example, it is shown how the solutions of decision and optimization problems can vary depending on the context.