Winner's Curse
One of the reason I enjoy studying economics was that it helped explained certain things about life. And one of its wisest tale of caution was about the winner's curse. An explanation about the winner's curse is that one often overpays for something if one is competing for it against other interest parties. For example, the winning bid in auction is usually higher than the worth of the item. After all, the next highest bidder did drop out when the auction price was too high. Not to mention all the other parties who also dropped out earlier in the bidding. So if the winner of the auction tried to sell the item immediately after the auction, it is likely that he will get a lower price than what he paid for.
For those people who do not participate in auctions, they might consider themselves untouched by this curse. Nothing could not be further from the truth. How many sportsman were totally disillusioned after becoming champions. Oops, one does not drop dead immediately after winning. And the worse part of the story is that the sportsman usually has a long life ahead since they had not spent their training unhealthy. Even high achievers also know this. They work all their lives to get into the best companies or the best jobs and then find themselves disliking/hating the job after a few years.
The worse part of the story is that the curse is hitting people when they are younger. How many young talents are touted as the next big thing but never fulfil their potential? I am not talking about those people who destroyed their lives with poor choices. Even if one does one's best, one would find that there are many factors stacked against oneself ranging from birthdays to the longevity of the reigning champion/s.
The sad part of the story is that there are more young graduates in the world who now disillusioned and discouraged. They have gotten into the right university or graduated with the correct degree but there is no " happily ever after". There are record number of unemployed or underemployed fresh graduates as have being pushed into a paper chase that has turned out terribly overrated. My point is not against ambitions. My point is that ambitions that are all conquering life goals maybe too high a price to pay.
For those people who do not participate in auctions, they might consider themselves untouched by this curse. Nothing could not be further from the truth. How many sportsman were totally disillusioned after becoming champions. Oops, one does not drop dead immediately after winning. And the worse part of the story is that the sportsman usually has a long life ahead since they had not spent their training unhealthy. Even high achievers also know this. They work all their lives to get into the best companies or the best jobs and then find themselves disliking/hating the job after a few years.
The worse part of the story is that the curse is hitting people when they are younger. How many young talents are touted as the next big thing but never fulfil their potential? I am not talking about those people who destroyed their lives with poor choices. Even if one does one's best, one would find that there are many factors stacked against oneself ranging from birthdays to the longevity of the reigning champion/s.
The sad part of the story is that there are more young graduates in the world who now disillusioned and discouraged. They have gotten into the right university or graduated with the correct degree but there is no " happily ever after". There are record number of unemployed or underemployed fresh graduates as have being pushed into a paper chase that has turned out terribly overrated. My point is not against ambitions. My point is that ambitions that are all conquering life goals maybe too high a price to pay.
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