amazing post by collegeboss

Transfer Students UC Transfers
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<p>There used to be a poster named collegeboss, and i wanted to share something from him cuz it was profound</p>

<p>here it is:</p>

<p>"I see how you could get tired of the same old “follow your passion” advice because its so vague</p>

<p>I’ll explain more deeply</p>

<p>When you understand what excitement is, you realize that you always dont have to look at every little detail to know what to do</p>

<p>You can follow your joy/excitement, not just goals, but at any given moment on ANYTHING</p>

<p>it doesnt have to be a career thing, but they’re connected</p>

<p>In other words, if right now, out of all the options you have when you leave this forum discussion, out of all the options of things you have available to you as things you could choose to do, if you look at all the options and realize that simply taking a walk, or driving your car, or calling a friend, is the most exciting thing out of all the options, THATS THE THING TO DO.</p>

<p>Just because its the most exciting. You dont need a reason why.
Its the excitement that tells you “thats the next thing you need to do”</p>

<p>Its the excitement in the simple things that tells you what simple things are actually connected to the bigger things that excite you</p>

<p>and will actually get you there, in what may seem to be a roundabout manner, but by following the excitement, its actually the shortest, fastest, straightest path</p>

<p>so… every moment, if you simply choose the thing that excites you at that moment out of all the things you have available to you, that you have the ability to actually take action on, DO IT, take action on that thing</p>

<p>When you cannot take action on that thing any further, look around to see what is the next most exciting thing to take action on, and do that, whatever it is, even if it doesnt seem “connected” to anything else, do it because the excitement tells you it is connected</p>

<p>Your excitement brings with it things that actually are important for you in a broader sense, even if it you dont see it. </p>

<p>More and more I see how everything kind of just happens for a reason, and I just go with the flow.</p>

<p>You gotta stop fighting the current and just jump in the river and see where life takes you."</p>

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<p>What if my options are taking a final, skydiving, or sleeping? Do I still follow the excitement?</p>

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<p>lol yeah sometimes you have to just put up with stuff you dont want to do, in order to do what you want to do later on in life.</p>

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<p>Excitement being a successful compass is subjective. This argument implies a person’s impulses, which are inherently irrational and hard to make otherwise, are rational; that is, capable of determining, alone, what is in one’s self interest for any practical time period. </p>

<p>What does this point of view tell the crackheads, child molesters, and humanities majors taking on 100k+ of debt? Follow your heart to misery and regret. </p>

<p>This cliche needs a huge caveat, negating all of its whimsy: the values informing one’s impulses and emotion are rational and consistent with reality. This cliche is for the lazy, an attempt to subvert reality with this ancient and debunked idea that emotion – in and of itself – is somehow thoughtful and innately connected to truth.</p>

<p>If anyone tells you this BS, they are likely rationalizing their terrible mistakes resulting from when they “followed their heart.” In a world full of people making terrible mistakes, this lack of reasoning is predictably a cliche. Anyone spouting this nonsense can **** off.</p>

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<p>I kinda agree with Emp… This seems to disfavor thinking before acting… Which is the exact problem that got us into our financial crisis, high rates of family debt, etc, etc.</p>

<p>For example, if we followed this guy’s advice then the vast majority of us would be going to party schools. Heak, we probably wouldn’t even be in college…</p>

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<p>Ah you guys just don’t get it.</p>

<p>Good post bagels(and collegeboss)</p>

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<p>Mmm this is a strong post. I understand Empathy and mikei’s points, but I have to agree with the OP. I think the original post has been slightly taken out of context - somewhat misconstrued. </p>

<p>From what I understand, the OP was contending that one should go out and do something (whether it be a car ride or taking a walk) that is the most appealing and exciting. I don’t believe this is promoting impulsivity and frivolity. Rather, the OP was saying that you should do the things that you enjoy. It’s important to take some moments to think and reflect about your options. </p>

<p>Empathy, you bring up a good point about the adverse effects of such a mentality. However, the OP wasn’t presenting a mentality. He was just mentioning that even just doing what “excites” you most can and often will lead you to success. Now, the OP wasn’t saying child molesters should go do what “excites them”. Instead, he was saying that in one’s academic pursuits, it’s important to do what you enjoy. He made it specific to academia.</p>

<p>If we extrapolate his argument to a broader sense, then yes, this would be a cliche - a very detrimental one at that. However, like I said, his post, when understood through the context of purely academia and the pursuit of goals, can be very applicable and true.</p>

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<p>woah… EmpathyInAnarchy…so virgo of you…</p>

<p>well if we all thought like collegeboss and if we all thought like EmpathyInAnarchy…there would be chaos and unhappiness.</p>

<p>the best solution is to have your feet on the ground and your head in the clouds…not just one or the other…but both.</p>

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<p>I think when he wrote it, he assumed a college level audience and a certain intelligence. And he assumed you would follow this within reason; he’s not saying to smoke crack and murder babies.</p>

<p>If you want to take it out of context and pervert its meaning then do so, but you’re missing the point.</p>

<p>I think an important part of college is living spontaneously, while getting your work done, of course.</p>

<p>Your college years are all about spontaneity and trying new things. :)</p>

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<p>ahhhh I seeeee!!!</p>

<p>Emil cleared up our points when he mentioned that it’s not “promoting impulsivity and frivolity.”</p>

<p>And I like bagelsbagels quote: "I think an important part of college is living spontaneously, while getting your work done, of course. Your college years are all about spontaneity and trying new things. "</p>

<p>That’s a really nice perspective that I’m going to bring with me when I transfer. :)</p>

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<p>^ I was taking it out of context to show how absurd this reasoning is in ANY context. Actions made in reality require planning to not have ill-effect. He/she was saying your emotional response to a course of action will inform you if you should take it. If you want to say he/she was implying reason is a value (given the context) yet bolstering this mystical cliche, that’s fine. Only, I wasn’t criticizing unsaid things. </p>

<p>I want to emphasize that I understand why those of you that like this do. I like it on an emotional level as well. But, it makes no sense unless I assume, like all of you defending this did, that they didn’t entirely mean what they said; which only reinforces my claim that this is lazy advice. If I can assume that he/she meant to include my caveat, then I agree with them. </p>

<p>Excitement is required to succeed at most things. Excitement alone, however, tells you nothing about how successful you will generally be. Your excitement being consistent with reality (yes, college students are capable of thinking all kinds of nonsense) would be more indicative of success. This only brings us back to thinking about acting and decision making, though, when I’m convinced this is an “emotion is truth” message – given the post’s aversion to reason and evidence.</p>

<p>I’m sorry about being rude, but I want to be sure you know that I mean what I say and that I’m not implying anything I haven’t said. I won’t walk on eggshells when minds are at stake.</p>

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<p>This seems to be a dumb jock kind of way to go about life.</p>

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<p>i would say its more of a zen way</p>

<p>these ideas come together better if you’ve read eastern philosophy and/or German idealism, phenomenology, and existentialism</p>

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<p>There’s only 3 ways to approach things: acceptance, enjoyment, and enthusiasm. Notice acceptance is one of them ;)</p>

<p>If you’re headed towards an ultimate path that leads to those three, that’s great. :D</p>

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<p>Emp, it’s not rude to argue/debate! As college students that’s like what we do…</p>

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<p>sometimes by doing what is not exactly exciting to you…you will learn and gain a lot as well</p>