decisions, decisions

So I am in the process of deciding whether or not to begin an MBA this year. I’ve been accepted, offered a small scholarship, and could go … yet, I can’t make up my mind. On Saturday, I was going. Yesterday, I was requesting a deferral (with the idea of getting more funding and going next year).  Why can’t I make up my mind???

I was convinced that something was wrong with me because I am flip-flopping all over the place on this. But yesterday I discovered TED.com.  TED.com is full of fascinating talks by very smart people, and it so happens that they have several talks about decision making and happiness. I listened to a few last night. They did not help me at all when it came to my own decision, but I did learn that 1). humans are really bad at making decisions, 2) humans don’t know what they want, even when they think they do, and 3) many people are happier with fewer choices rather than more choices.  After listening to these talks, I concluded that I am human and am behaving according to human nature. What a relief!

So the talks were very interesting, but they provided no answers. That is, there were no strategies presented to help us (me!) learn how to make better decisions.  They did point out errors that people can look for in their thinking, but try as I might, I don’t seem able to use that knowledge to my benefit for my current decision.

Here are the links to the videos I just watched:

Dan Gilbert on mistaken expectations

Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice

Dan Gilbert asks, Why are we happy?

Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce

Sunk Costs and Job Searches

Think fast: You just paid $9 to get into a movie, and only 10 minutes in you can tell it’s utter rubbish. What do you do? Do you stay and watch it, or leave and do something else?

Education and the Economy

The one remark that stuck with me from Obama’s address to Congress in February went something like “It is your patriotic duty to get an education.” At least, that was how I interpreted it. Some of his actual remarks on education were (as published on npr.org):

Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma. And yet, just over half of our citizens have that level of education. We have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized nation. And half of the students who begin college never finish.

This is a prescription for economic decline, because we know the countries that outteach us today will outcompete us tomorrow. That is why it will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education — from the day they are born to the day they begin a career.

—-

It is our responsibility as lawmakers and educators to make this system work. But it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it. And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country — and this country needs and values the talents of every American.

It is nothing new for a president to recognize the importance of education. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush implemented educational initiatives, as I’m sure did the presidents before them. What impressed me about this statement is that President Obama seemed to focus more on personal responsibility: (. . .) I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. I wonder whether any citizens will take this request seriously. Then I hope they do, because it’s true that the productivity of the nation depends on the productivity of its people, and education enables citizens to be more productive.

A New York Times article from March 6 reported that the jobs lost in this recession will not be coming back, as they are indicative of firms’ decisions to leave particular lines of business altogether. This means that economic recovery must include job training, yet the Times reported that the stimulus bill recently passed in Congress includes only $4.5 billion for job training. That seems a little light to me. I would think that, at this time, “making this system work” should include more funding for job training.

I Sense a New Addiction Developing

Just when I’ve been noticing that some of the podcasts and blogs that I’ve been following for years are starting to seem a little stale, I learned about Jonah Lehrer’s blogs The Frontal Cortex (which he writes) and Mind Matters (which he edits for Scientific American). Hoorah! I am thrilled because these blogs are specifically about the mind and all the new things that neuroscience is telling us — things which I find incredibly fascinating. Before now I was only hearing bits and bobs through various radio programs; now I can get a regular diet of neuroscitrivia.

Online Access to University Courses

I remembered recently that a number of universities provide free access to course content online. I thought I’d look around for some courses on editing, publishing, and new media.

Through the archives of my friend Rachel’s blog I discovered that MIT has an excellent selection. I’ve been completely distracted by these options! I’m especially interested in the Cognitive Science courses — I’ve been especially fascinated by that stuff of late. I’ll post thinks to other universities soon.

I also found the Open Courseware Consortium to be a great source.

Edit: I downloaded course materials from MIT, and my computer seems to have trouble reading the documents. I’m not sure which format they’re in. Hopefully you won’t have the same issues.