Being able to choose our own careers ~ was this beneficial to us? (America, atheist)

[avant-garde]

You can go to the bottom paragraph of this post if you wish to skip to the question. The rest of it is a bit of interesting, but nonessential, discussion


The very first thing that comes to mind is the quote limitations can be liberating. In a consumerist world where we have opened up the freedom to pick and choose, it seems there should be a lot more happiness going around for all of us.

However, the way of thought that an individual's ultimate goal is to maximize the potentials of one's life in the here and now seems to put tremendous pressure on virtually everyone to succeed... and thus success becomes the end goal in life.

I believe it wasn't very long ago when it was more important to study at a local college (so you can stay near your family) than having virtually every high-aiming student applying to the far, East Coast (Ivy League). Rejection rates of these universities, even after expanding the facilities, are higher than ever and don't show signs of coming back down. Application rates to colleges have skyrocketed as well. Competition is fiercer than ever. Signs of stopping? No.

Further back a few generations, isn't it true that career choices&opportunities were severely limited, or that parents would decide what the kid would do for a living? This seems very confining and archaic to many of us, but it seems that people in the older times were more willing to accept what was given to them, and without second thought.

Now, many many people regret their career choice (even if they thought it was the one when they chose it), and many wallow in frustration because they can't decide on what they truly want to do for the rest of their lives. Too many options open up pressure, unrealistic expectations, and room for much regret. It seems there is too much attachment to this aspect, when really, a spiritually enlightened person would realize that the specific career or profession should be less significant in one's overall life satisfaction than it is currently made out to be. Also, it seems this "pick-and-choose" attitude breeds a cloud of unhealthy egotism (and entitlement), especially in the younger generations.

I believe that people of the past, even 40 years ago, were no less fulfilled, and maybe even more fulfilled, than people today. The only thing they could do (when choices were limited) was work on the spiritual dimension rather than attach themselves too much on the material world.

This is coming from someone who has been an atheist for all 18 years of his life. Some of the approaches in this post may be naive in certain respects, and I would be happy to learn what other City Data posters think as well.



Having the freedom to choose our own careers... was this beneficial to us?
Telling kids that they can "be whatever they want to be"... should this continue?
In a world where boys, and even girls, are encouraged to believe that "pursuing their dreams" and "self-satisfaction" is of highest priority, can there be room for social harmony?
How do we keep the collective materialistic attitude in check, in a world where consumerism, electronic gratification, and the dominance of science over religion has left a vaccuum for a code of ethics&morals?

[avant-garde]

Also the idea that social mobility is available for virtually everyone in this world makes it depressing for the individuals who fail make it to the "upper" class when materialistic dreams pervade them for most of their youth.

All men are created equal ~ this applies to natural liberties but not so with natural ability. There seems to be a general ignorance, or at least avoidance, of this fact in today's youth.

[catman]

I'd say having the freedom to choose one's own career is a good thing. If it doesn't work out, you have no one to blame but yourself. But even if it doesn't, at least you got to do what you wanted.

[FreeThinkerInTex]

One of the perks of the free world.

Thanks to all the men and women that keep America safe. You are so appreciated!

[avant-garde]

lol maybe the original post was a little too long.... to keep people interesed

[nightflight]

Your post was very interesting and I think I agree. (However it could be dangerous to say that we have too many choices in our lives. At some point those in power may think it reasonable to narrow those choices "for our own good".)

But look at it another way. Eric Hoffer lauded the many superficial distractions of modern society, saying that such distractions kept the masses from greater evil.

[scarmig]

Having "too many" choices exposes ones own limitations, but they are accurately identified as coming from within rather than imposed from without.

Some people excel from this. Some do not.

The same is true of artificial limitations.

Knowing that, I prefer choosing for myself rather than having some *other* flawed, selfish, ignorant human choose for me.

[MontanaGuy]

It's very obvious to me after living for sixty years that I have certain abilities and talents in a few areas but there are a great many more jobs or careers that I would never have excelled in and if I would have chosen the wrong one my life would have been miserable. In previous centuries there were really very few choices available due to the circumstances that people were living in. Many jobs were based on manual labor and I believe that the majority of the human race lived dreary lives of hard work with little satisfaction. Of course it's a positive thing to be able to choose what you want to do for a living. There's no one else besides ourselves who really understands our abilities and what we like and dislike.
I honestly feel that the OP is painting a very rosy picture of the past that is not very accurate and it ignores the creativity that talented people have been able to use to improve the quality of life for mankind in general in modern times. That's because they had more choices available for their life's work and many were able to pursue what really interested them. I don't see that as being egotistical, materialistic or any of those negative things that have been suggested. I don't believe that a woman in the 1800's who spent an entire day doing the laundry for her family which was backbreaking work without electricity and the things we take for granted was really contemplating deep spiritual issues as she toiled for hours. That strikes me as being sentimental nonsense and I suspect that if the author of the OP had to spend just one single day in that era that he or she would be so thankful to have been born in modern times when they returned to their comfortable life.

[NightBazaar]

I think being able to choose your own career is beneficial. It's beneficial to be able to make your own choices rather than having someone else make the choice for you. The reason is simple. If someone else chooses for you, you're stuck with it whether you like it or not. In making your own choice, if you decide to change for whatever reason, you can always make a different choice whenever you want.