December 12, 2017, by apyem2

Decision time: should you go to university?

The decision to go to university can be a tricky one.

Fear not, I attended a philosophy lecture which shed light on making decisions and got me thinking about that all important question. Here is a taste of what went on..

Let’s talk rationality

Most of us want to be rational in our everyday lives.  Normally we do this by giving value to the possible outcomes of an act and then choosing the act with the highest valued outcome.

Take the decision to boogie all night with your friends or stay in and do homework.

You decide the happiness you get from seeing your friends and dancing means it has a higher valued outcome than doing your homework. So it’s more rational in this case to go out with your friends (extra persuasion for the parents, thank me later)

Seems straightforward so far, right?

 

 

If only that simple

Yet, with it being a philosophy lecture, it meant things got a lil more inquisitive.

What if the values of the outcomes can’t be known?

This happens when an experience is TRANSFORMATIVE.  Imagine an experience where you can’t possibly know what it’s like until you’ve done it. If this is the case, say adios to rationality and hello to non-rationality.

Back to the big question, going to university is a transformative experience. It seems the joy of fresher’s week and the pain of a 9am can’t truly be known until you’ve experienced it.

Despite your best efforts to be rational in this decision, it could only be non-rational because the values of the outcomes can’t be known yet.

So what to do?

Well rationality won’t help you in your decision to go to university, so don’t waste your time trying. Instead, perhaps go by the saying..

You’ll never know unless you try.

 

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