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Week 5 - Is less more?

pbrodfue's picture

At the end of The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz says that the way to increase satisfaction is to "allow for serendipity." What do you think of that advice?  What role has serendipity played in your life?

mlapiana's picture

Serendipity

The concept of serendipity can be comforting in a world where we have so many choices to make. It is nice to think that "fate" will guide us. If we leave too much up to serendipity we won't be active players in our own lives. We can sit around and wait for something to be "guided" to us or we can go out and get it. It is that inciative we take that allows us to have chance encounters with opportunities or people that will change their lives. People have an idea of a direction that they should take and then chance encounters can lead people to their ideal job or life partner. I don't believe in serendipity persay but I do believe that statistcally speaking throughout one's life amazin things will happen. It is inciative, luck and ability that lead to success!
mlapiana's picture

Serendipity

The concept of serendipity can be comforting in a world where we have so many choices to make. It is nice to think that "fate" will guide us. If we leave too much up to serendipity we won't be active players in our own lives. We can sit around and wait for something to be "guided" to us or we can go out and get it. It is that inciative we take that allows us to have chance encounters with opportunities or people that will change their lives. People have an idea of a direction that they should take and then chance encounters can lead people to their ideal job or life partner. I don't believe in serendipity persay but I do believe that statistcally speaking throughout one's life amazin things will happen. It is inciative, luck and ability that lead to success!
Anne Dalke's picture

inverting the relationship between randomness and meaning?

I was very struck, this week by the range of responses to our query--seemed that we fell into two camps: either determined not to allow serendipity into our lives, or to embrace the chance events which happen to us as "fate." Also struck by the irony of our dissing serendipity on Serendip, I'd like to invite us to consider a range of other possible responses to (what might be?) the ultimate randomness of life; see, for example Evolution/Science; Inverting the Relationship Between Randomness and Meaning.
abhattacha's picture

"Don't leave anything to

"Don't leave anything to chance!" is a refrain that we hear constantly. But in our concern for control, we do all we can to eliminate "the luck of the drawer" which just might work better.
 
At a very prosaic level, I would say that trying to second guess fate and request a roommate in advance might just backfire. It might be actually be better to go with the flow and actually get a roommate who is truly your family away from home.
pbrodfue's picture

Data and Charts

Class data - PeterClass data - Peter

 

Class data - AnneClass data - Anne

anonymous's picture

Elusive

Serendipity is to me an elusive concept - each one of our lives is to a certain extent directed by it; but it is hard to tell how or why. We may have our lives planned to the minutest details, and yet, who's to say that some sort of a 'chance encounter' will not come our ways and mess with our plans completely? However, does that mean that we dont make our own choices, or plan out our life? I dont think so. Serendipity is such that there is always room for it, however, one cannot assume that other external forces whose origin can't be explained will come by every step of our life to guide us. That is foolish.
While serendipity is that extra zing or spice, we must follow a set recipe for the dish to be prepared. (Excuse the food analogy). Yet, one can as well eat the dish without those spices.

Malli

lwacker's picture

Serendipi...what?

What a joke. Serendipity is the stuff fool's dreams of made of. According to Schwartz now if we really want to be happy we just have to sit around and wait for some "cosmic click" to fortuitously occur in our favor. Whether this actually happens, happens in a cycle of months or years people are reluctant to passively watch their lives pass them by in favor of tentatively waiting for a serendipitous moment to henceforth alter their lives from that moment on. Reality does not work like that. People who want to live in the long term will never be able to adopt Schwartz's serendipity approach successfully. 
mkmerrill's picture

According to Schwartz in

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.

jfahl's picture

Expectations and why Serendipity is boring

Some like Schwarz suggest that if one lowers expectations, one can never be disappointed. I look at this as a sad way to go through life. This idea of hurtling the lowered bar, does not appeal to me. I like to set my standards for myself and my work high; even if that means that i may be disappointed with the result. Setting high standards may elicit stress which Schwarz suggests will dictate the types of choices that i make. While that may be true, i cannot imagine a life without stress and high expectations. The battle is half the fun of life.
aybala50's picture

serendipity

We are back to talking about choices again. Does having a large amount of choices cause increased anxiety? According to Schwartz, yes it does. Schwartz argues that a decreased number of choices will make us happier. When we think about it, for example, were as many people depressed 100 years ago as they are today? Little things in life is really what helps us get through everyday. These things, such as actually cooking a meal, allows our minds to process everything we have been perceiving. Not only have these daily processes been taken away, we have been given the responsibility of choosing one option out of a million offered.  
jpfeiffer's picture

I do not agree with Schwartz

I do not agree with Schwartz when he states that "to increase satisfaction, allow for serendipity". I do not believe that one can "allow" for serendipity, when serendipity is defined as being brought about when not seeking something directly. Therefore, according to serendipity, if one is actively searching for satisfaction, they will not find it. Whereas, if one if just living their life, they may come upon satisfaction, or something very favorable in their lives. An example of serendipity in my own life: when I was in middle school, one of my now best friends, would always offer to carry any of my books on the way into school. We didn't talk much other than the brief thank you and goodbyeand in general the whole entire situation was odd. However, in highschool, I ended up having every class with her, and now she is one of my best friends. I was not seeking to become friends with her at all, just merely thanking her for her good deed, yet due to "serendipity" I was rewarded with a great friend.
akaltwasse's picture

chance (and possibly community chest?)

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.

Yellow's picture

Word Choice

I think that Schwartz's use of the word "serendipity" gives his argument that too many choices complicate our lives a different, more important feel. He is making a correlation between fate and human choice, making it seem that humans should let someone/something else do all of the work for us instead of making our own choices. It is a very god/divine force centric attitude, and makes me feel powerless.

I love making choices, and having a lot to choose from because I like analyzing and considering different options. Often, when I deliberate over a choice for a long time, such as what prom dress to buy, I make the decision that feels right to me and don't regret it because I considered it for such a long time. The fact that there are alternatives out there doesn't bother me, because I feel I've made the right choice.

But I understand his point that too many choices can cause panic and lack of direction/ambition. But saying that serendipity, or fate, is the right course of action sounds lazy and risky. I wouldn't want to have my mom pick out a prom dress for me. But who says that with all the fish in the sea, we choose who to fall in love with? We don't.

Anne Dalke's picture

"Maximize, Regret and Be Happy...."

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....?
;)

Shoshi's picture

Since Serendipity is a

Since Serendipity is a random phenomenon, something that cannot truly be "allowed" because it just happens, his statement makes little sense. He could be attempting to say that something happes randomly, preferably good, accept it and allow it to affect your life. In that case, I agree with him and I would Serendipity has played a big part in my life and those of all around. I am sure that if you were to ask anyone, they would be able to come up with something good that happened by accident. If you truly think about it, you might experience Serendipity on a daily basis, depending on how you view your world.
eolecki's picture

Satisfier Vs. Maximizer

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.    

lwscott's picture

Just go with the flow.

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 

lwscott's picture

Just go with the flow.

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 

Eliza Brennan-Pratt's picture

Serendipity

The movie, Serendipity, is one of my all-time favorites yet it seems laughably contradictory in the context of my life. I’m in love with the idea of serendipity or a “fortunate accident” as Sarah (played by Kate Beckinsale) defines it. I also definitely agree with Schwartz’s contention that serendipity provides for “unexpected pleasure.” On whims while traveling, my friends and I found spectacular beaches, restaurants hidden in unknown neighborhoods, and opportunities that just sprang up out of the blue

These were wonderful moments to remember, but I wonder if serendipity can determine major life events. Overall, my decisions are extremely calculated. I weigh the positives and negatives multiple times before choosing the “right” option. For example, does serendipity really have a place in choosing careers or a life partner? Maybe yes, maybe no. Then again, life is just a series of moments strung together. By opening ourselves up to serendipity, we might experience a whole array of “unexpected pleasures” that will greatly improve our satisfaction. Maybe serendipity really can make us happier people.

cantaloupe's picture

I believe that allowing for

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.  

hwiencek's picture

I have trouble believing

I have trouble believing that "allowing for serendipity" would actually bring satisfaction.  Schwartz writes this in the section in which he advises that we lower, if not eliminate, our expectations.  However, the mere mention of the possibility of serendipity puts the hope for something serendipitous to happen in my mind--which I would argue is an expectation.  I find that whenever I have any sort of expectation in a situation that is not fulfilled completely I am left feeling rather unfulfilled.  Fairly often I find myself reminding myself not to get my hopes up about something in case it doesn't happen, and I'm not too sure whether this is a good way to go through life.  I think that better advice would be to go into situations with an open mind.  I do not mean that we should never have any ideas of what we want--in fact I think that having goals is very important, but I think having reasonable goals that are malleable and that we are willing to adjust if necessary is more important.  Some of my best memories from times with my friends and family are days when we would get together for no particular reason and with no particular plans other than to enjoy each other's company.  We would let the day take us where it would, making decisions based on our moods at the time.  And, while I know this is maybe not an apt analogy when considering decisions of greater gravity, I think it is valuable in looking at how we should enter into decisions: with an overall goal that is not too specific and a willingness to be flexible in the way in which that goal is achieved.
lraphael's picture

serendipity

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 

Anonymous's picture

Chance

According to Schwartz, life presents us with so many choices that we become overwhelmed, and plagued with anxiety simply because we cannot make a decision. Schwartz believes that if we leave different situations up to serendipty, or pure chance, people would be less likely to agonize over choosing what they want.
However, I don't think it is wise for Schwartz to assume that most people will be satisfied with leaving their situations, decisions,choices, etc to mere chance, or luck. Oftentimes, I feel like leaving decisions up to pure luck can cause even more discomfort and anxiety. For example, if an individual "ended" up with a pair of red shoes, he might have difficulty being content with this pair of red shoes, this"fated outcome", only to realize that he had no other choice, no chance of obtaining a pair of shoes that he might have been content with.
Moreover, there are there are people who go into a situation knowing exactly what they want, and by leaving their choices to fate, they are being robbed of the opportunity in obtaining what they wanted.

yhongo's picture

The phrase of "allowing

The phrase of "allowing serendipity" is in a way contradicting itself. "Serendipity" is the luck or the chance that no one expects or has any control over. Yet, "allowing" is a term that is used when an individual has control. It is as if someone is forcing an act that is not possible to force. Therefore, I do not agree with Schwartz's idea of increasing satisfaction by allowing serendipity. Furthermore, I am a believer of fate, so I tend to believe that whatever happens is meant to be. There are times when I feel as if I got "lucky" but more often I stop and think to myself that, "everything happens for a reason". 
 
I also believe that satisfaction is what we make it. We create our own satisfaction rather than anything or anyone else doing that for us. Therefore serendipity does not bring upon satisfaction. We, as individuals, bring upon satisfaction to ourself. 
stephkim's picture

Schwartz asking us to allow

Schwartz asking us to allow for serendipity basically means to expect less. To not expect anything lets us satisfy with anything because we didn't have any expectations to start with. 

This advice is useless, first off because as people, we naturally expect certain things, even if we know its beyond our reach. Yet, to ask us to expect less to be satisfied more.. I believe it's an oxymoron- we're then going to be conscious of NOT expecting... which basically is expecting.. haha it's psychology.

 As a person who wishes and almost expects the best things, it's true that I'm often disappointed and thus not satisfied. But I think this is better than not dreaming and setting goals and simply accepting anything and everything that comes your way. It's healthy to have expectations and would be practical to make room to allow for it to happen, not random serendipities.

Anne Dalke's picture

Depressingly Easy

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.
Something to think about, as you begin researching your papers about national health habits....

 

Anne Dalke's picture

Correlating Maximizing, Regret and Happiness

Today in class, both sections took three of the surveys included in The Paradox of Choice. The first measured our inclinations to "maximize" (a score < 65=maximizer, one > 40=satisficer); the second was a "regret scale" (predicted to correlate highly w/ maximizing); and the third was a "subjective happiness scale," intended to indicate the degree to which looking for social confirmation decreases happiness.

I've listed the "raw" data below (minus names), though there are a number of caveats. Our section thought the first scale meaningless, because the areas in which we are inclined to be "picky" vs. "choosy" were so varied that it skewed the results; we also reversed the scoring on the "happiness" scale, in order to get a positive correlation w/ regret and maximizing.

There is also an amazing (to me) table and graph of correlations forthcoming, based on the data from our class, which Leigh prepared on the spot in front of everyone--only now I can't find it to enter here. I promise I will...

Table-challenged,
Anne

  Maximization Regret Happiness
Peter's class 29 8 15
  35 6 19
  56 20 15
  45 13 18
  52 14 12
  58 12 18
  56 23 21
  39 14 10
  61 18 19
  49 18 16
  51 12 19
  50 15 10
  49 5
18
  48 27 16
  50 24 16
Anne's
class
52 29 4
  54 15 13
  50 19 10
  40 16 11
  46 11 10
  44.5 9 9
  64 15 12
  57 17 12
  57 12 19
  66 17 14
  48 16 18
  30 18 8
  54 19 10
  68 26 16
  45 25 18

P.S. Here 'tis!
"Maximize, Regret and Be Happy...."
nmackow's picture

not a bad idea.

While I would agree that leaving life up to serendipity or chance is foolish, that's not what Schwartz is advising us to do. He's merely suggesting that in order to "increase satisfaction" we should sometimes cope with what we're given. In my case, this pertains to my flexibility with my time. I tend to roll with the punches in such cases where my plans to take a train into the city or go out with friends fall through. I just make other plans and accept that my plans weren't meant to be. I don't get disappointed this way and I suppose that increases my satisfaction with whatever I end up doing.
emily's picture

HELP FOR THE NEXT TWO ESSAYS

For next week, the link for the survey making website is: surveymonkey.com

also, if anyone is having trouble looking for info for information for their topic, this week, try going to the "database by subject" link on the library page and checking there, probably under psychology (i've been searching through the first link on the psychology page, the psychInfo website).

ihe's picture

How do we allow for

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".

emily's picture

It's the little things!

I think that this advice can be interpreted as be grateful for all the little enjoyable things in life. If someone can find joy in daily happenings that person will certainly be happier and have increased satisfaction. And, if a person is finding joy in every day that he or she did not previously ever really think about, then that person would be running into fortunate situations everywhere and would therefore be allowing for serendipity. I don't ever think of "serendipity" on a daily basis, but I know that when I am in a good mind set and just enjoy things I like, like a breakfast or a nice breeze, my good mind set is definitely increased.
mcchen's picture

Serendipity

Serendipity can essentially be defined as luck, by coming across a fortunate situation by accident.  Schwartz's advice to "allow for serendipity" seems a bit silly because it is something that we cannot control, it is supposed to happen by chance.  I suppose another way to interpret his advice is that he's saying in order to increase satisfaction we have to see the positive side of every situation instead of focusing on the the unfortunate aspects of our choices.  His advice is very open to interpretation and does not give his readers a clear cut method on how to increase satisfaction, he seems to say it is up to the individual to find a way to be happy with his/her choices.  I suppose I can interpret it so that serendipity plays a large role in my life, from waking up just before I'm late to class or finding the perfect pair of shoes, it's all in my interpretation of it. 
Anonymous's picture

Serendipity, no longer just a cute romantic comedy

I think by telling us to look for serendipity, Schwartz is telling us to take a step back, let events unfold. We need to stop feeling as if we need to control every thing in our lives, sometimes we have to leave it up to fate. I agree with him to a certain degree. Sometimes it is good to relax, sometimes it is necessary to accept that a situation is out of our hands and all we can do is ride along with whatever happens. However, this should not be taken to the extreme. This becomes dangerous when we stop acting and leave most things up to fate. If it's reasonable that we have the ability to have a positive influence on a situation, we should go forth. When something needs to be done, we still should step up to the plate. We cannot just blame all consequences on fate. As with everything in our lives, there is acceptance of serendipity in moderation.
This is also a strange concept, because serendipity, like spontaneity is not something we can make happen. We cannot control when or where it happens. When people say they want to be more spontaneous, by planning out things that would ultimately be spontaneous lose spontaneity in planning. So in conclusion, I understand his advice to the point that we need to at times put down the reins and loosen control on every aspect of our lives. On the other hand, waiting around for serendipity to take over is silly, more often than not, random good things will probably not happen.