Barry Schwartz makes excellent points as he portrays the amount of variety we have in today’s world of information as a hindrance in many ways. People take much more time to arrive at even the smallest decisions. The vast amount of choices we have has led our decision-making ideology to always seek out something better. The expression “the grass is green on the other side” can now be applied to any situation. Shoppers at the supermarket can be seen pacing isles numerous times looking for the best deal. Consumers are now unwilling to settle on one selling point for a product such as a basic price point, quality aspect, or guarantee. Once a consumer finally makes a decision, they can be seen later wondering how the product’s competitor would have satisfied them more.
Professor Schwartz depressed me if anything as I came to the realization that his descriptions depict my life. Generation Y has been raised in a time where information is abundant and choices are always possible. Perhaps one of the biggest decisions of a college student’s life is what career he/she wants to pursue. Even here, we have always been told that with hard work a person can be whatever he/she wants to be. After graduating high school there are literally thousands of universities and colleges to choose from. Each university offers hundreds of degree plans to cater to each type of person. Even after these first two steps are overcome, we as students must decide how to use the next few years wisely in order to establish a bright future.
Personally, I was indecisive regarding my future until a family member finally showed me through example which path I could take successfully. The Mccomb’s Business School boasts about one of the best programs in the nation that develops some of the most successful students in the nation. However, after having experienced it first hand I believe that my time here has just served as filler for the decision of my future. If society did not constantly evolve and create new jobs, we would not have so many choices to consider for professions and my job search would be much simpler.
The paradox of choice that Mr. Schwartz continually illustrates through cartoon has been present with generation Y since its beginnings. However, we can see that in older generations, such as the baby boomers, choices are now plaguing their lives as well. Adults are learning to research certain products and services beforehand rather than taking the advice of a close friend immediately. Therefore the paradox of choice is able to overcome the previous decision habits of older generations.
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Alexander - just remind you a caution about the length of the post. You might need to add slightly more to keep the requirement.
ReplyDeleteAlex - As Donghua said in both of your blog comments, these will definitely need to be longer to receive full credit. The good thing is that your writing is really strong and the content you have written is really interesting and well connected to the podcast. So, as I said in class, your concerns about choosing a career are the start of my dissertation questions. Having been told that you all can be/do anything, I really curious about you all wrestle with this and how it impacts your outlook toward future careers. The good news is that college majors do not necessarily dictate what you decide to do with your life. While your major can certainly make it easier to get into certain careers, your fate is not (yet) sealed. :-) Fun to read - thanks!
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