Decision Making

            As promised in my previous article, here is my formula for decision-making.

• Whenever faced with a decision, ask yourself these questions as you think through the pros and cons of your decision
• Will this matter in 10 minutes?
• Will this matter in 10 days?
• Will this matter in 10 weeks?
• Will this matter in 10 months?
• Will this matter in 10 years?
• Whichever one, after reviewing this, you think would matter more, then I think that would be the better option. I had a decision to make a while ago, and I used this method. Looking back on it, I am glad I used this formula, because I think my decision was the right one. So the next time you are faced with a decision, refer back to this and ask yourself these easy questions. 

Dissecting Quotes #17

            This is the seventeenth edition of the series "Dissecting Quotes", where I choose a quote and briefly describe what I think the quote means and how to apply it to our everyday lives. I hope the insight a high schooler can provide can help brighten a day or get you thinking. 

"Common sense is not so common," 

- Voltaire 

Voltaire

              Today's society is skewed, we all rely on what others tell us. Sometimes we act without action, and the consequences are horrific. While I myself have not seen common sense gone wrong, I know of others who did not fully think through the consequences before acting. This reminds me of a quote I read in a book, "First with your head, then with your heart." This quote describes how sometimes our gut feeling is not the best feeling, and that it is better to use our brains to think things out before we act or make a decision. As Voltaire, a Enlightenment thinker, said, common sense is hard to come by these days, and he said that 300 years ago! So we should just be reminded to think things through before we decide on what we should do. And be sure to look out for my next article providing my formula for decision-making. 

Dissecting Quotes #15

          This is the fifteenth edition of the series "Dissecting Quotes", where I choose a quote and briefly describe what I think the quote means and how to apply it to our everyday lives. I hope the insight a high schooler can provide can help brighten a day or get you thinking.

"What you can do today can

improve all your tommorows." 

-Ralph Marston

          We are always told that live like there is no tomorrow. That can be good advice, but it also can be destructive. If we really did live like there was no tomorrow, we would be in such a hole the next day that we would not be able to survive. Even if we did survive, we would not be able to live like that for long. Ralph Marston disagrees with this statement, he says what we choose to do today can change our future, improving it to how you want it to be. This quote, when reflected upon, is instrumental in everyday decisions and things we do. Some things we choose to do are very near sighted, and if we put our actions in perspective, we would realize that what we are doing is maybe not the best thing to be doing. If we choose to do something productive instead of wasting our time on silly things, our future can turn out to be better and more enjoyable than it would have been.

           

Doing the Right Thing

          On Veterans Day, I participated in a school clean-up with environmental club. During the clean-up, about an hour in, one of my friends found a bunch of progress reports strewn about. He brought them over to where we were and I straightened the papers and put them in a bag. I noticed that on the reports, I could see the students grades and also their address. This is not a good thing for a school to be making available to the general public; anyone could have walked on the campus and found those reports. I walked the reports down to the office, but I doubted anyone would be there, being Veterans Day. We knocked on windows and peeked through doors, and finally one person opened a door and asked us what we needed. We told him what happened and where we found the reports. I set them down on a chair and walked back to my friends.
          On the Monday after Veterans Day, I went to the office before school and asked a lady if the reports went to the right person. She said they had not been moved, and so she asked me for my name and where I found the reports. I told her the information, then went to the class I had for first period. I thought about what I had done, and inside I felt good, like I did the right thing, which I did. I could have done multiple things, I could have thrown the papers away, I could have went to the media and told them, or I could have left the papers where they were when we found them.
          I know it can be hard to do the right thing, but if we ever find our self in a situation where we could do multiple things, make the right decision, not only will you feel good about yourself but you will help someone else by making their life easier.

Moral Decisons

          In society, citizens are at different stages of their lives. Noted psychologist,
Dr. Lawrence Kohlberg developed a scale to measure the stages of moral development. His
theory became popular when text book author Foigel wrote an article about him. Wrote in
1996, the article talks about the development of the scale used by Kohlberg. From stages
1-6, starting at one with selfish desires and ending at 6 with sacrifice. Rating citizens,
society can measure where individuals are at morally.

          The first stage, stage one, the individual is thinking only about themselves.
Called the "Me" stage, this stage is one young children are in. Punishment, however, does
help the child learn what is acceptable. The only decisions are decisions made based on what
is fun or desirable. The individuals in this stage act without thinking but do not like
punishment, so their decisions are based on punishment as well. They feel as if they must
obey to succeed. This stage is not a desirable stage to be in over the age of 5.
          The next stage, stage two, the individual is thinking about themselves and one other
person. Known also as the "Me + you" stage, the person is thinking about themselves and one
other person.This stage is defined by personal reward, thinking only about what is in it
for themselves. To them, there is no right or wrong and do not consider others points of view.
People in this stage are typically in the preschool age range.
          The third stage, also known as the "Me + family and friends" stage, is defined by the
individual wanting to please others.Typically having 5-12 year olds, the individuals want to
fit in, wanting to be a good boy or a good girl. Above all else, kids in this stage want to
be a part of a group, whether they rebel against their family or not. The persons in this
stage want to do good, but do not know what is right or wrong. The conscience of this person
makes wrong choices but is essentially moral. Because the individual does not know right from
wrong, this is not a desirable stage to be in.

Kholbergs Moral Decisions

          Stage four, the law and order stage, is known as the "Me + Society" stage. Humans in
this stage accept responsibility and show respect for authority. Individuals in this stage conform
to rules in society, hoping to become a good citizen. If an individual is in this stage, they
can be an adequate role model for others. A society needs at least 80% of citizens in this
stage to be successful.
          In stage five, known as the "Me + Welfare of others" stage, individuals look out for
the better good of others. People in this stage are willing to take risks and strive to benefit
society. They want to advocate change and are willing to work to make a difference. Individuals
use their talents and time wisely. A society should have 20% of citizens in this stage, people
who step up as leaders. This brings us to the final stage.
          Stage six, the final stage, is known as "Me + Sacrifice". This is when an individual
gives up comfort and safety to preserve human dignity. There are a very few of these people;
some examples include: Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Medal of Honor recipients and a few others. These
individuals are the people who are internationally famous and strive to change a major problem. 

          These stages reflect on who a person is, and where they are at morally. We are human because
we have an ability to reason, whether we use it or not. An individual cannot skip stages, and moves
up or down a stage when 60% or more of decisions reflect the other stage. What I want all of us
to think about is where are we at morally. Do our decisions reflect a 3 or a 5? Do we strive to
make morally correct decisions? What could we do to change?