A college education is all about opening minds. Even when I am presented with two open pathways for growth, the possibility that a life-changing experience lies behind the red door dictates that I open it as well, right?
Perhaps. I know that it takes time and energy to pursue an interest. To open the red door, I must move away from the other doors that are already open.
But what if all of the doors were already open? Could I allow a door to close in order to gain more time and energy for the remaining ones? Research described in the TierneyLab blog (NY Times, Feb 26, 2008) suggests that most humans won’t let open doors close. Once a door has been opened for us, we are willing to squander our time and energy in keeping this unexplored option open. Eventually, once there are enough open doors, we willingly spend our time running back and forth keeping them open, instead of actually going through any one of them.