Week 5 - Is less more?

According to Schwartz in order to "allow for serendipity"  we need to stop evaluating all the choices and experiences in our life so that we can be suprised by"unexpected pleasure". Although I agree that things are more enjoyable when stumbeled upon by accident, I don't think it is possible for someone to literally evaluate every choice or every experience in the first place. Throughout the article Schwartz discussed the difference between a maximizer and a satisficer, but as shown in our class poll no one is a true maximizer. I don't it's to consider every choice or every ramification that goes along with that choice. Because of this I think it is very possible for a maximizer to experience some form of serendipity due to the fact that all peopl (maximizer, saticficer, or in between) leave room for things to happen by accident.

While applying for college this past year I was set on going to Georgetown and had never heard of Bryn Mawr let alone considered applying. It wasn't until I received a brochure in the mail that I decided it wouldn't hurt to apply. Serendipity lead me to this school and I think I am happier because of it.

Leaving your life up to chance would of course be a tremendously silly notion.  However, what I think Schwartz's advice means  is to expect less choices and, when choices are presented to us, for us to try not to become overwhelmed.   On page six, Schwartz writes, as one of his five arguments, "We would be better off if we lowered our expectations about the results of decisions."  Lowering our expectations would, in a way, leave some things (the results/consequences of our deicisions) up to serendipity.  We certainly would have a lot less stress regarding our choices, but depending on serendipity is too close to apathy for my liking.  Yet sometimes opportunities come along in life where your only choice is either to dive in head first (isn't that redundant, because diving is always done head first, or is the saying to jump in head first?) or pass it up. 

I've made a few big decisions in my life where the results of which were left to serendipity.  When I finished third grade, I permanently moved in with my mom, who'd been living with my stepdad for a few months in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (I grew up in Haddon Township, New Jersey, sometimes known as Westmont).  I never thought about how that move would effect my life, but I can easily say now that it was the best decision for my education and happiness.  Applying to Bryn Mawr was also a decision I thought little of at first (the results of my applying were initially not of much importance to me), but soon before I was accepted it had become my top choice and the best fit for me.  Otherwise, I only would have had the option of two similar colleges.

There are also some choices we make whose results cannot be forseen.  Leaving the "Supa Fun" Haverford dance led me to sit with a girl on the blue bus who is now my closest friend at college.  It was a trivial decision, so I did not think of the possible results.  I think Schwartz has the impression to overthink these trivial things.  I do not because I would rather not be bombarded with the vastly frightening array of outcomes some choices yield.  Perhaps an understanding of what is trivial would allow us to leave more things up to serendipity.

ps. You have no idea how hard it is for me to avoid making some sort of pun/horrible joke in my subject line.  In case you didn't have a [typical] childhood, it was a Monopoly pun.

Here it is! Leigh's (magnificent) graph of the (non?) correlation of
our tendencies to "Maximize, Regret and Be Happy...."
Someone want to explain the non-correlations here?
Or run the same correlations across the hall....?
;)

I'm not positive to what extent I agree with Schwartz's philosophy.  His suggestions to be happier make logical sense.  If we don't see better alternatives we will be more satisfied with what we have and more choices makes making a decision much harder.  But I just am a little hesitant to accept a philosophy that encourages not trying to get the best and not looking at all the options.  It is true; decisions are easier and could potentially make you more satisfied, but that satisfaction comes at a price of being oblivious to your reality of choices.  For some who gets depressed thinking of imaginary alternatives that are beyond reality, I think this approach to decision making would be helpful.  But a little regret and rethinking about choices isn't a completely bad thing.  While Schwartz makes it sound like being a satisfier is the best route to decision making, I feel that you should be in-between the two.  You should agonize over decisions, but you should arbitrarily choose either.    

Serendipity is not only one of my favorite movies but also one of my favorite words. The word itself just sounds so.... happy! Schwartz's advice is to "Allow for Serendipity." I believe the he means that instead of focusing so much making things just perfect, say for example a date, just relax and let things play out.

Schwartz mentions expectations. I am easily disappointed. I absolutely dread my birthday because I have all this expectations for how great it's going to be and when everything doesn't happen, I'm so disappointed. If we don't make this expectations then we don't leave room for disappointment. I find I have more fun when I'm spontaneous and let my ideas, thoughts, and actions take me where they want. 

Lydia 

I believe that allowing for serendipity is good advice.  The way I interpret this advice is to not spend all my time planning.  Schwartz is saying that good things will come when I sit back and relax.  I know I am guilty of trying to plan out every little detail of my life.  I want every second of every day to have something assigned to it.  Schwartz is saying that I need to let go of that and allow for things to occur that I might not have planned.

Serendipity is partly responsible for me ending up at Bryn Mawr.  I had my heart set on going to Scripps College in California.  My good friend just graduated from Bryn Mawr in '08 and she raved about it so much that I decided to apply to Bryn Mawr last minute.  When I got rejected from Scripps, I was devastated, but it was the best thing that could have happened.  Now, I am at Bryn Mawr and I love it and couldn't imagine being anywhere else.  

Serendipity plays a huge role in my life. The phrase "all things happen for a reason" is something I live my life by. Just when you don't expect something to happen, something amazing could happen. Some people think serendipity isn't real or its all coincidences, but some things can't be explained. Like the one day you go to the grocery store and Curtis Stone the Chef from Take Home Chef on TLC) is there to offer you a gourmet meal. Or how about the stories where someone by accidently sold a book with a beautiful note written in side and looks through all second hand stores until they find theirs again. Everything happens for a reason to me. 

Serendipity for me plays a huge role in my life because to me it makes me want to try new things because who knows what could happen. Serendipity keeps me wondering.  The first lottery ticket I bought was on my 18th birthday. I was of legal age to buy a lottery ticket, and I won 50 dollars. Some may call that luck but it was just purely meant to be. 

What do you think, is it luck or serendipity?  

Leigh 

While I'm here (and in a chatty mood) I thought I'd also pass on a link to an article from the August/September 2008 issue of Scientific American Mind, which Aybala showed me today. It's called "Depressingly Easy," and here's a brief overview:

• Rates of depression have risen in recent decades, at the same time that people are enjoying time-saving conveniences such as microwave ovens, e-mail, prepared meals, and machines for washing clothes and mowing lawns.
• People of earlier generations, whose lives were characterized by greater efforts just to survive, para­dox­ically, were mentally healthier. Human ancestors also evolved in conditions where hard physical work was nece­ssary to thrive.
• By denying our brains the rewards that come from ­anticipating and executing complex tasks with our hands, the author argues, we undercut our mental well-being.

How do we allow for serendipity??can we allow something to happen on accident?I think serendipity can bring us satisfaction. (maybe he means that we allow ourselves to be satisfied by the fact that something good has happened?).

Serendipity has played minor roles in my life, becuase usually things don't happen by accident in my opinion. Many time Idon't think"this happened by chance or luck" but rather "this was meant to happen" like many i try to find meaning in why things happen, and there for something that happened by chance would not be by "chance" for me, but more of "it was meant to be".