Choice Is The Time Killer?
Why do I feel like there’s not enough time in the world for
all the things I’d like to do? Why do I have this nagging feeling that I’m
missing out the opportunities of my lifetime? Is it even remotely logical for
me to feel frustrated at hours spent sleeping? How is it even possible for me
to doubt the validity of the things that I read, and watch, and listen to? Why
do I feel guilty because I prefer to do something I really enjoy instead of working?
Could it be there’s so much clutter disguised as considerable and substantial content
that I’m feeling lost trying to find the epic?
Why does it feel like everything’s a remix of a remix of a
remix? Is it because there’s nothing original left to create? Or is it because
original stuff created cannot reach me in this day and age of the technology?
Or am I being fed mediocre content cloaked as masterpieces? Does my longing for
the content created in the past fuel this melancholy? Do I even ‘get’ what’s
being produced today? Should I just ‘dig deeper’ until I find the gem that
appeals to my taste?
And is it really true that everything created is a copy of a copy of a copy? Filmmaker Kirby Ferguson tries to shed light into the subject with his four part video series.
I’m watching films adapted from novels emulating comic books
imitating concept rock albums. I’m being fed TV shows reminiscent of other TV
shows. I’m reading thousand-page tomes which could be written as novellas. Same
news, same arguments. Amidst all this junk, I’m brainwashed into reasoning
that, somehow, there are more alternatives to what I watch, and read, and
listen to. After watching this movie, I should watch that one as well. That
novel is a trilogy, so I should read all three to capture the essence. Why don’t
I just try that other band which makes equally crappy music? I just sit, my
spinal cord removed, watching lesbian vampires hunting zombie cowboys, punk
aliens making love to cyborg child molesters. Where do I recall that actor from?
Was he playing on that series by that same producer and same writer that was
telling the exact same story five years ago? And while struggling to catch up
with all that, I try to make time for work, for friends, for family.
Am I actually blinded by abundance of choice? In his 2005
TED Talk, Barry Schwarttz claims that freedom of choice has made us more
paralyzed, dissatisfied and anxious. He’s trying to rationalize our behaviors from
the economical perspective, but his considerations can most definitely be
adopted to analyze our psyche – well, mine at least.
Can this analogy of that infamous professor be more logical
than it sounds?
Upon entering his class a little late, a professor teaching
philosophy picks up a large an empty mayonnaise jar and fills it with golf
balls. He then asks the class if the jar was full. Students all agree that it
was. The professor then picks up a box of pebbles and pours them into the jar. As
he shakes the jar lightly, the pebbles roll into the open areas between the
golf balls. Then he asks again if the jar is full or not. The students all
agree that it is. The professor then picks up a box of sand and pours it into
the jar. Inevitably, the sands fill up everything else. He asks one last time
if the jar is full. And the students all agree that it is. The professor then
produces two beers from under the table and pours everything into the jar,
filling every space. The students laugh.
“Now,” says the professor, “I want you to recognize that
this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—-your
family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite
passions—-and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life
would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your
job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else—-the small stuff. If
you put the sand into the jar first,” he continues, “there is no room for the
pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time
and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are
important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your
happiness.”
One of the students raises her hand and inquires what the beer
represents. The professor smiles and says, “I’m glad you asked. The beer just
shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a
couple of beers with a friend.”
In his TED Talk, Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert explains
why our beliefs about what will make us happy are often wrong. Maybe we should
all start taking care of the golf balls first.
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