Follow Your Passion: A Seamless Tumblr Journey
Phd Stuff - Blog Posts
In one condition of the experiment, six flavors of jam were available for tasting: peach, black cherry, red currant, marmalade, kiwi, and lemon curd. In another condition, twenty-four flavors of jam were featured: the six flavors just mentioned plus eighteen others. In both conditions, customers who tasted the jam could then use a coupon to buy a jar at lower cost.
The key finding in the study was that the twenty-four-flavor table attracted more attention yet it resulted in fewer buyers. Shoppers flocked to the exciting array, yet most became overwhelmed and dropped out of buying jam altogether. Only 3 percent of those who visited the twenty-four-flavor table went on to buy jam. In contrast, shoppers who visited the six-flavor table were more able to decide which jar was right for them, with about 30 percent leaving the store with jam in hand.
The next week, I told Ian about the jam experiment and wondered aloud about whether he felt too overwhelmed by life’s purported possibilities to pick something.
“I do feel overwhelmed by the idea that I could do anything with my life,” he said.
“Then let’s get concrete. Let’s talk about choosing jam,” I offered.
“Am I at the six-flavor table or the twenty-four-flavor table?” he asked.
“That is an excellent question. I think part of making any decision in your twenties is realizing there is no twenty-four-flavor table. It’s a myth.”
“Why is it a myth?”
“Twentysomethings hear they are standing in front of a boundless array of choices. Being told you can do anything or go anywhere is like being in the ocean you described. It’s like standing in front of the twenty-four-flavor table. But I have yet to meet a twentysomething who has twenty-four truly viable options. Each person is choosing from his or her own six-flavor table, at best.”
Ian looked at me blankly, so I went on.
“You’ve spent more than two decades shaping who you are. You have experiences, interests, strengths, weaknesses, diplomas, hang-ups, priorities. You didn’t just this moment drop onto the planet or, as you put it, into the ocean. The past twenty-five years are relevant. You’re standing in front of six flavors of jam and you know something about whether you prefer kiwi or black cherry.”
- The Defining Decade by Meg Jay, PhD
Damn Forest Service, the sci comm is scary as hell.
Always a good time
Just going through boxes and boxes for bags and bags of soils to put in smaller bags.
I fucked this up. Present me is pretty pissed at past me.
i can not and i mean i can not stress this enough… make a bibliography as you do your research. i mean, make a fully formed, correctly cited bibliography as you work. just do it. i know i know you’re being lazy or you hate making citations or you’ll just get to it later or you don’t want to get distracted etc etc etc
whatever your reasons just make the fuckin bibliography
and while im at it… put the footnotes in properly as you are writing. just… do it. for future you. please. for your sanity. do it.
