Over Considerate
By: Bryce Ebert
In a modern American household, most parents want their children to grow up to be exemplary individuals. Parents teach their children to be
considerate of others and to think about what they want before making a decision. Teachers especially try to reinforce consideration with examples like the Golden Rule. Not to say that this is necessarily a bad trait; being considerate is a good thing. However, there are some unintended consequences that come with it. When there is a lot of pressure from society to be considerate of others, a person can become too considerate. This could lead a person to become highly indecisive even with the most trivial of matters. If one person was to have this trait, then there would not be any issue, but if an entire society were to become overly considerate, that society would fall apart.
I know about the dangers of over consideration because I myself am over-considerate. I find myself becoming more and more docile with the passing of time. I would rather let other people make the decision while I fade into the background, but my complacency is becoming a problem. Sometimes I find myself asking for other people’s opinions on what to do in any situation, even if it is as trivial as what to wear that day. My indecision also creates a lot of frustration over matters that should be easy. I can, and have, spent over ten minutes looking at myself in the dressing room, trying to gauge which shirt other people would like more, rather than which one I would like more. I need to teach myself to be more assertive, to speak up for myself, and to become more decisive. I can do the same for society.
To me, over-consideration is a habit, and like any other habit, it can be broken. It could be handled just like a speech impediment. There would be centers where people could meet with a therapist. It would be a place where patients can see the progress being made, and overtime, the patients will get better at expressing their own thoughts and emotions. I can speak through personal experience. I use to have a stuttering problem in my speech, often pausing in the middle of sentences to take a breath, and completely ignoring periods and commas. Like most others with a bad habit, I was in denial that I stuttered, at least, until I heard myself in a recording. I spent around a year and a half meeting with a speech therapist on a weekly basis until one day, I walked out of there feeling confident in myself. I can now speak fluently, and have no issues reading text allowed.
As over-consideration slowly gets worked out of society, benefits will appear in the workplace, the neighborhood, and worldwide. One of those benefits will be a decrease in indecision. Indecision is caused by over consideration because the individual wants to please everyone in his group; this often leads to a large debate where everyone leaves frustrated and nothing is accomplished in this endeavor. It is often stated that people who know what they want done, and who can clearly express their desires frequently get the task accomplished in an expeditious nature. Businesses will operate a lot more effectively this way; with clear goals and a collective plan, obstacles would be overcome with ease. This would be beneficial to politics as well. Politicians would be able to govern more effectively. Without worrying about the woes of other countries, politicians such as the president can start to focus on issues that our own nation is facing.
I speak from experience when I say that therapy takes time to complete. Not to mention that the feel of independence might be new to some people, so it might take some time for people to grow accustomed to power over one’s self. It’s like when a person buys a new pair of shoes, at first, they might feel strange and stiff. After a while though, the material will start to wear. It will mold to the person’s touch. The shoe will form groves in the right spots and it will feel like you were born to wear them. After that, the benefits of bringing consideration down to non-paralyzing levels will take effect almost instantaneously.
Consideration, just like every other little thing in the universe, needs to be done in moderation. No consideration will lead to another large scale
conflict (possibly World War 3), but too much consideration will lead to political, social, and economic stagnation and collapse. No one would know what to do, people would all be waiting for someone else to make the decision for them, and everyone else would be waiting for someone else to be making the decision for them. The result would be the entire population just sitting around, waiting to be told what to do, like drones with no minds of their own. Finding the perfect middle ground is the key. I need to reach my own, personal goal first. I need to become more independent, more decisive. I need to become the change that I want to see in society.
considerate of others and to think about what they want before making a decision. Teachers especially try to reinforce consideration with examples like the Golden Rule. Not to say that this is necessarily a bad trait; being considerate is a good thing. However, there are some unintended consequences that come with it. When there is a lot of pressure from society to be considerate of others, a person can become too considerate. This could lead a person to become highly indecisive even with the most trivial of matters. If one person was to have this trait, then there would not be any issue, but if an entire society were to become overly considerate, that society would fall apart.
I know about the dangers of over consideration because I myself am over-considerate. I find myself becoming more and more docile with the passing of time. I would rather let other people make the decision while I fade into the background, but my complacency is becoming a problem. Sometimes I find myself asking for other people’s opinions on what to do in any situation, even if it is as trivial as what to wear that day. My indecision also creates a lot of frustration over matters that should be easy. I can, and have, spent over ten minutes looking at myself in the dressing room, trying to gauge which shirt other people would like more, rather than which one I would like more. I need to teach myself to be more assertive, to speak up for myself, and to become more decisive. I can do the same for society.
To me, over-consideration is a habit, and like any other habit, it can be broken. It could be handled just like a speech impediment. There would be centers where people could meet with a therapist. It would be a place where patients can see the progress being made, and overtime, the patients will get better at expressing their own thoughts and emotions. I can speak through personal experience. I use to have a stuttering problem in my speech, often pausing in the middle of sentences to take a breath, and completely ignoring periods and commas. Like most others with a bad habit, I was in denial that I stuttered, at least, until I heard myself in a recording. I spent around a year and a half meeting with a speech therapist on a weekly basis until one day, I walked out of there feeling confident in myself. I can now speak fluently, and have no issues reading text allowed.
As over-consideration slowly gets worked out of society, benefits will appear in the workplace, the neighborhood, and worldwide. One of those benefits will be a decrease in indecision. Indecision is caused by over consideration because the individual wants to please everyone in his group; this often leads to a large debate where everyone leaves frustrated and nothing is accomplished in this endeavor. It is often stated that people who know what they want done, and who can clearly express their desires frequently get the task accomplished in an expeditious nature. Businesses will operate a lot more effectively this way; with clear goals and a collective plan, obstacles would be overcome with ease. This would be beneficial to politics as well. Politicians would be able to govern more effectively. Without worrying about the woes of other countries, politicians such as the president can start to focus on issues that our own nation is facing.
I speak from experience when I say that therapy takes time to complete. Not to mention that the feel of independence might be new to some people, so it might take some time for people to grow accustomed to power over one’s self. It’s like when a person buys a new pair of shoes, at first, they might feel strange and stiff. After a while though, the material will start to wear. It will mold to the person’s touch. The shoe will form groves in the right spots and it will feel like you were born to wear them. After that, the benefits of bringing consideration down to non-paralyzing levels will take effect almost instantaneously.
Consideration, just like every other little thing in the universe, needs to be done in moderation. No consideration will lead to another large scale
conflict (possibly World War 3), but too much consideration will lead to political, social, and economic stagnation and collapse. No one would know what to do, people would all be waiting for someone else to make the decision for them, and everyone else would be waiting for someone else to be making the decision for them. The result would be the entire population just sitting around, waiting to be told what to do, like drones with no minds of their own. Finding the perfect middle ground is the key. I need to reach my own, personal goal first. I need to become more independent, more decisive. I need to become the change that I want to see in society.