Thursday, September 04, 2008
I was talking to a friend today and found out that he had a scholarship which pays him to study. He's doing his Phd, so I guess I can't compare. But it felt so structured for him. I guess I'm used to the Singapore system where you can afford to spend a year slacking off, and still catch up the next year without it making much of an impact on your graduation. But now it seems like everyday matters, the choices you make will have an impact on the immediate future. The days are numbered, and before you know it you're thrown out into the real world.
No job security, no idea what to do with the future. It's so easy to be sure and confident. But people will draw on your confidence to build their own. It's so easy to run. But there will never be a path upon which no problems will lie. It's so easy to optimistic. But there will always be people who will want to pull you back to reality, and those aren't even the pessimistic.
There's no one strategy to approach the game of life, but how do you know which one to choose when you can't observe your payoffs? Everyone can make good decisions given hindsight, but how many can make decisions using foresight?
Ironically I'm studying to help people in decision-making, and I can't make my own decisions. Why? Because not everything can be quantified within an econometric model. Because not everything can be measured using the common unit of money. Because the game of life is a finite, non-repeated game.
Dan
12:12 am
