Source 1:
The TED Talk, “The paradox of choice” by Barry Schwartz mentions “when people have freedom then each of us can act on our own, and the way to maximize that freedom is with maximizing choice”, this is his conclusion, and his premises are as follows. One he mentioned was a consumer electronics store that has “CD players, speakers, amplifiers, etc. that has a variety of 6.5 million stereo systems.” That many choices increase our choices because of that many different options. He mentions another example within the world of communications, how when he was a boy, “At the time you can get any telephone service you wanted from Ma Bell, you could rent it not buy it.” But as time goes on, evolution happens, so he says that now you could get an unlimited variety of cellphones, many being able to do different things. The option or choice of getting a phone that doesn’t do much is no, not possible. So that limits your options on what kind of phone you want. These are just among simple things when it comes to choices, but in more serious matters I personally liked the example he used on healthcare. He mentioned that how now (to sum it up) in the U.S when you go to the doctors, the doctors aren’t supposed to tell you what to do or take depending on the reason for the visit. Now, the choice is up to the patient because the doctors give options for the patient to choose from, from the benefits to the risks listed. They are now able to make the choice and decision but since people have been relying on someone else to make the decision they will asks such questions like, “What would you do in my situation?”, “In your opinion what is best?”, the person doesn’t have focus to make a choice on their own, that if something goes wrong they won’t blame it on themselves or even because they are used to not making their own choice. I agree with Barry especially on this example because all the questions you ask can lead to a different outcome feeling than what it would have been when you didn’t have the choice at all, questions are brought up and you wonder and think deeply about it but when you come up to the decision. It’s a different feeling and it’s like discovering your own choices when you have no idea where to start, if that makes sense.
Source 2:
For the article from CNBC, “From the ‘perfect’ salary to keeping up Joneses, here’s how money really affects your happiness.” by Cory Stieg, she states that money itself doesn’t fulfill our complete happiness as we expect it to be. She states her premises; for example, “But more recently, a 2018 study from Purdue University used much wider data from the Gallup World Poll and found that the ideal income point for individuals is $95,000 for life satisfaction and $60,000 to $75,000 for emotional well-being. When people earned more than $105,000, their happiness levels decreased.” Another example is that,”More money doesn’t make us happier but making “more relative to other people” does, according to Yale psychology professor Laurie Santos, who hosts “The Happiness Lab” podcast. “Even the richest folks out there in the world can often look around and find somebody that’s just a teensy, weensy bit richer, and therefore their money is not making them as happy as they think,” she tells CNBC Make It. In both examples, I understand how making more money doesn’t make anyone happy, like doing a job you don’t like but it’s good pay (this is another example she mentions in her article). Even if it’s good pay, she mentions that it won’t make you as happy as having a job that you love. I believe happiness is temporary if you have the idea of trying to be better than someone else, or equally trying to buy expensive things because you want to show others that you can wear it too. In this society there are standards such as these but where will it lead us after? Does the happiness last? It’s questions like these to make sure you don’t make such mistakes to regret it later. Happiness should be long term and deciding on how to use money, working for something you will love to do so you can wake up every morning to be happy to work for a job you have. All in all, it always ends at your well-being.
4 thoughts on “Destiny Del Castillo DB5”
Hi Destiny,
I like how you pointed out the healthcare example Barry gave. It wasn’t until I saw his video that I realized that doctors were shifting the choice on the patient; in case something went wrong, they weren’t at fault. I thought they were simply giving options for the patient to choose from. I assume this is done to protect themselves from lawsuits and, of course, trauma from making the wrong decision. Now doctors can sleep better knowing that they didn’t decide if, so the patient does not survive. As civilians, we are not well educated to make these decisions, so we rely on doctors for advice, but now the advice is given in choices. As for me, I google everything, and something as simple as a headache will have me thinking I have something worse than what I have, a headache. I can only imagine what these patients go through when they have to go home and decide what choice to make and if and so they are making the right choice. I believe this is more stress onto the patient, making treatment not as successful as it could be due to the patient’s mental instability while in treatment. Things were better when doctors told patients what needed to be done because, as patients, we trust what the doctor is saying; we don’t trust ourselves.
Hi, Destiny
Great posts! I love that more people are open to the idea of chasing happiness over pay. I hope that this concept catches on. In the reading, it was taken aback when Gary Vaynerchuk talks about having “too many friends that make over $12 million a year that are miserable.” I was listening to a Russ interview a few months back, and he was in talks of a $80 million dollar catalog buyout. He told the interviewees that it’d never be worth it, because he’d use $5 million to scratch everything off his bucket list, then have the rest of the money leftover and be depressed that he no longer owns his catalog.” That’s some perspective. It really is about what gives you legitimate fulfillment in life, as opposed to material possessions. Thanks for the read!
Hi Destiny
I cannot agree with you more, you are certainly right anyone who is trying to find happiness by comparing themselves with others or trying to outdo someone their joy is temporary, because upon achieving their egoistic desire it brings them some sort of euphoria which soon dissipates, so as you said happiness should be long lasting and definitely is not found in extravagant spending.
Hi Destiny,
I really enjoyed reading your post. As someone who is in college to work in healthcare, I really like how you pointed out Barry’s healthcare example. I was kinda shocked after watching the video that I had not realized that doctors were shifting the choice on the patient. In reality, it makes complete sense as it’s the patient’s body and health and not the doctor’s. Doctors should be able to prescribe you options and you as a patient should be able to see which option best suits you.