english 101 summary

THE BIG DECISIONS

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THE BIG DECISIONS

INTRODUCTION

In life, choices are inevitable. Humans are faced by different situations every day. Humans are influenced by situations on what to think and how to go about our lives. Some might be irreversible while others are just simple decisions for instance, what to wear or eat. In this essay we will be discussing transformational decisions. These decisions are irreversible, and their impacts are very vital in our lives. Once made, a person has to face the consequences that come with them. These decisions include having a baby, changing careers, relocating among others. When facing these situations, we need to really understand the impact of these decisions. The consequences that come with them are long term and thus we need to be sure whether we are ready to face them.

SUMMARY

Transformational decisions are not easy to make and live by. This means that the individual is willing to entirely change their lives. As much as sometimes we do not want to accept, we are always aware of our conscious thoughts and our ability to make informed decisions. We are always fully aware that the choices we make every day have consequences. Whatever choices we make will have an impact on ourselves or other people around us. For instance, one may choose to skip school and go drinking with their friends. The individual knows very well that if they are caught they will be grounded by their parents and the teachers will have to punish them. For transformational decisions, L.A Paul thinks that humans are ignorant when making these decisions and that it is unlikely for us to make purely rational choices. We do not have any idea what these decisions will do to our lives. We are uncertain whether we will like our future selves more than our current selves.

THESIS

In the article Big Decisions, David Brooks suggests that when a person makes a transformational decision, they will have to leave their old selves and acquire a new self. One will be required to step outside the modern conception of ourselves as cognitive creatures.

BODY

Transformational decisions are challenging decisions to make and uphold. They change our lives completely. When these decisions are made, we acquire a whole new life. This means that we become totally different people. No one prepares you for these major changes that one will be experiencing. An individual can only use their brains and preferences to guess whether they will enjoy their new selves or not. For instance, before joining the army, one may ask around their military friends how the experience is. Some may even decide to watch military movies and also use google to seek others experiences. They will gather information and the results we find most certainly are a bit challenging. Even with these, an individual does not know how they will feel about it. Therefore, they will be forced to make judgments for various reasons. They may view it as a calling rather than a choice they have to make.

When making these transformational decisions, we should always ask ourselves the right questions. It is important that an individual realizes and acknowledges the fact that we humans were born with an intense desire to learn and know. Questions like if I will like this new I should be avoided. No one would know if they will like something they have not experienced yet. Curiosity should be applied in this scenario. One person’s experience may not be similar for others. For instance, some people will enjoy parenthood than others. For some people it gets really difficult, they give up their children for adoptions while others even leave them on the sidewalks. These people probably saw how happy their friends or neighbors were when they had their children and they thought it would be same for them. Therefore, when making these decisions, we should not base our experiences on those of others. We should make these choices based on whether we personally want to discover who we will become.

Basing our decisions on our moral intuition enables us to live more fulfilled lives than basing these decisions on our desires. Humans’ tastes, desires and preferences change every day. Today, an individual might prefer meat and the next day, they suddenly want to be vegans. These desires are allowed for simple life decisions that can be reversed. However, these big life’s decisions should not be based on desires. Relocating, having children, joining the military, changing religions among others are big irreversible decisions. One should sit and really give these decisions a thought. Making rushed decisions on these matters can lead to someone being miserable in life. These decisions are a big deal and they affect the lives of individuals to a point of changing them. We should make these decisions based on our moral intuition. One should ask themselves if they are ready to become this new person. Reason being, once one has brought that infant in life, they will be required to raise it. They ensure they protect and care for it until end of time. There is no time a child is too old to be on its own in their parents’ eyes. These decisions are irreversible, thus, when making them we should be sure we want these changes to happen in our lives.

In her article, L.A Paul suggests that we should live life as a series of revelations. She thinks that making decisions should be based on if we want to discover who we will become in the future. This means that, we should accept challenges that are thrown our way with minimal analyzing. However, David Brooks does not concur with her. He thinks that living life basing on pure curiosity is too thin and ephemeral. I concur with Brook, for some decisions are too thick for mere curiosity. Transformational decisions, once made cannot be unmade. They have big impacts not only on the individual’s life but also on the society. For instance, having a baby does not only involve the parents but also the life of the child. Joining the military is also a big deal for the parents, siblings and the spouses of the individual. These decisions are major and thus should be given more weight. Curiosity may fade after sometimes and it will be devastating if it fades after a person has made a permanent decision. Living life as a series of revelation may be tricky at some point in life. We need to ask ourselves if we are ready for some of these changes that we want to take place in our lives.

CONCLUSION

When making transformational decisions, we need to be ready for the new life that these decisions will bring. We should avoid rushing into these decisions because our peers or friends are doing it. Their experiences will be different from ours. To avoid regretting our decisions, we need to be sure of what we want. We need to involve our moral intuition when making these decisions. These decisions bring about so much change in our lives and most of them are challenging. We should think them through, analyzing the possible outcomes that we may face when we make these decisions.

As much as curiosity may be a contributing factor, it should not be the only force that helps us make these decisions. Giving these decisions a thought and being sure of what we want to become is essential. We do not want to live our lives regretting the decisions we made because we were basically curious.