Risk vs Reward in the Real World - Literature review Example

Risk vs. Reward in the Real World Name Professor Institution Course Date Risk vs. Reward in the Real World It is always considered by the wise that life is gift of God given to every human being. However, in life everybody is given equal opportunity in terms of time and the difference is what a person chooses to do with his life (Ariely 2010). An individual can either choose to make his life better or worsen it. To make life better is normally a matter of taking risk. Risk is the real meaning of life. One such risk is getting a university education. For several young people, university for a along time has been considered a means to a good life. However, changes have taken place so fast and the question that currently arises is whether the university education is worth investing money into. This is because even people who did not get university education or dropped out are now doing well in businesses. With this realization, this essay assesses risk versus reward of going to the university. To put this discussion into perspective, the essay will identify and analyze 2 complexity principles within the problem space. Risk is defined as the act of taking chances with the aim of getting rewards or success (Ferguson 2009, p.177). However, success is not always assured because undesirable outcomes may arise. It is the personal obligation to influence the result of one’s actions. On the other hand, reward is defined as an objective means to explain the positive value that a person gets because of a behavioral act or effort (Ariely 2010). What majority of parents advise their kids from the day they get to a place of learning is that they must take their education seriously and study hard so as to get an entry into a higher institution of leaning when they grow up. That enables children to believe that University could be the key to their better career, which could ultimately become a lie. Elkington & Hartigan (2008) argue that there exist other gains to be obtained out of the university education which will not automatically result to financial independence. The obvious gain here is entrepreneurship (Elkington& Hartigan 2008). The most critical things individuals can acquire from the university experience are learning concerning real life things and their character development. One might assume that these given practices should have been finalized. According to Elkington& Hartigan (2008), one thing that must be noted is that the educational system applied by schools does not dwell much on skill development and also university education does not guarantee a job. These two complexities bring forth two types of students; Students who believe in having fun and making connections and those who depend wholly on hard work and education as the ladder to prosperity. To overcome uncertainty in making decisions to get university education or opt for making connections mainly in business world, an individual must act on bounded rationality (Ariely 2010). The research shows that young people are increasingly getting their education university in the US and Britain but only a few graduates are getting jobs (Intelligence squared 2013). Education costs are also going up. In fact, fees at the American universities have gone up by more than 1000% over the previous 30 years while British institutions have almost tripled their yearly fees up to £9000 in by 2012 (Intelligence squared 2013). For these reasons, parents are either weighing options of taking up their children to school or staying at home have fun and create connections. Even those who have find their ways into the universities opt for making connections at the expense of studying (Intelligence squared 2013). However, for the students who understand getting into university is itself a risk to getting good life, they work hard to get the reward by getting the best grades in pursuance of their careers (Jullian 2004, p.12). On the other hand, there are some children who do not believe in the university as a means to a good life and think that life is about having fun and making connections as you try to survive (Intelligence squared 2013). In such context the name of a few individuals are cited having made it in life or are having great careers without university degree or dropped out of university to pursue other careers. Some these great people who influenced people’s lives yet are college dropouts are Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerber, Steve Jobs, Richard Dell, Roman Abramovich and Gabe Newell among others (Intelligence squared 2013). For those who lose the direction at the University and using their time to have fun with other student instead of study can be said to be performing under uncertainty. Even though the education at the university can be seen to have become redundant because of the change that take place so fast, there are those who still believe in this education (Intelligence squared 2013). Similarly, for some who have opted for the business world without going to the university are getting rewards but they have to know either way, education is necessary to run these businesses. To some extent, these two groups of people; those who are spending their time making connections and those who are studying hard and expect rewards both can be argued to be taking risks. The only difference here is that, the one who studies hard is “sure” of the rewards while the one having fun is uncertain about the future. Elkington & Hartigan (2008) posit that just like in the business world, university education is a real risk with many people competing to get best grades and certificates so as to take advantage of the job market. To get rewards in both cases, people need to have some personality and take some factors into consideration. Jullian (2004, p.5) argues that an individual who has vowed to study hard must have the drive, resilience, self determination, work hard and also have the knowledge concerning situations among others. For those who believe in university education as their only way to success must take risk and work for it. This form of character development though, if not added by hard work may be proved ineffective or in any case, not rewarding as believed in long term (Ferguson 2009, p.201). The vital purpose of the university since the beginning has been to educate people. Education is believed to be rewarding since it opens opportunities to people, that would have not been there. For those who have not made to school and also their concept of making connections have not yielded rewards, they might be called failures (Intelligence squared 2013). In this case, no matter how good an individual might be, he or she is bound to observe doors of opportunities slam in their face, if thy do not have the needed qualifications for an employment, such as a university diploma or degree and also their bid to make connections in the other disciplines did not get positive rewards (Ariely 2010). Still, the situation of being a failure would be rather bad too. Ariely (2010) claims that this situation can only be put in the context by an individual who cannot conduct himself well or cannot express himself, who even though is 24 years old, his rational age does not seem to sustain his biological age. I do not believe this kind of an individual would have numerous opportunities of getting hired, or upholding his job for long. For both situation where a person take up the risk to go to school and the other take up the risk in making connections, what is most important is information should be available, to make some make a decision based on bounded rationality (Ariely 2010). In conclusion, life is about taking risk and risk is a personal decision where someone may or may not decide to pursue university education. Education remain a key pillar in people’s lives. University education still remains an advantageous end in itself; means of enlightening a person’s mind and personality which will be an improvement for his or her life. University education remains a long term rewards and its corticated can just be certificates that can be kept even for security. Therefore, whether one wants it or not, it is a stage of one’ life which is too critical to miss. References Ariely, D 2010, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home, Harper Collins. Elkington, J. & Hartigan, P 2008, The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs create markets that change the world, Harvard Press, Boston Ferguson, N 2009, The Return of Risk, in The Ascent of M. Penguin Books, London, pp177-230 Intelligence squared 2013, University is An Unwise Investment, accessed on 22nd October 2013 http://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/university-is-an-unwise-investment/ Jullian, F 2004, A treatise on efficacy – Between Western and Chinese Thinking, Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press, pp1-31 Read More