Sunday 27 July 2008

Deferment of judgement

My eldest daughter is starting to look at university courses, and this weekend was the beginning of the university open days for prospective students.
We went on Saturday to look at a course and the university that she liked the look of. It did look fabulous.
On Sunday we planned to go and see another course and university, but after having seen something quite exciting on the previous day, she was reluctant to go and see something that she assumed wouldnt be as interesting.
I had to drag her to see this other university, and the viewing was a useful opportunity to build her understanding of what makes a good course for her.

I thought this was an interesting example of how a positive judgement (she really liked the first course she saw on saturday) closed down her motivation to search for more options.
If she had been disappointed with her first viewing would she simply carried on viewing courses until she found one she liked? - again an example of judging each option as it presented itself.
What ive been trying to help her do is to keep an open mind for a couple of weeks until she has seen a whole bunch of courses and universities - then, and only then will she be in a position to have a broad view on which to make her decisions

Judgement - positively or negatively - it will constrict your ability to make considered decisions