I had solemnly sworn to myself that I
would be more pro-active with studies in the second semester of my first year
of college than in the first and that I wouldn’t procrastinate till the last
day. I was forced to eat my own words after a couple of months. I realized I
couldn’t do it. What I also I realized was that I was acting rationally. Here’s
why.
With two months to go for
examinations, not studying momentarily has very little effect on final grades.
To see why, let me introduce the concept of opportunity cost. Opportunity cost
is the cost associated with not doing something. If I spend my 2$ on an
ice-cream instead of buying a chocolate, the opportunity cost of one ice-cream
is one chocolate. Similarly, the opportunity cost of studying is “not studying”.
So when I study, I lose out on the chance to take it easy and relax. Moreover,
several months before the examinations, the ‘cost’ of “not studying” is low in
that if I don’t study I get the benefit of being relaxed without paying as much
for it with ‘lower’ marks since I can always study later. As time progresses
however “not studying” becomes costlier as the timer ticks towards the
examination day.
This explains why I and most students
burn the midnight candle. Studying early maybe rational over a long time frame
but momentarily it is less valuable than “not studying”. For every hour I
study, I lose out on one hour of relaxation. Studying is rational only when the
cost of relaxation is high as it often is during the last day before the
examination. However relaxing is cheap early on and so you are being rational
when you procrastinate. If you had the choice between buying the same ice-cream
now when its 2$ or later when its 4$, you would definitely choose the former.
Similarly when the cost of “not studying” is lower, you might as well enjoy
your time without studying earlier on and making up for it later on.
This probably isn’t a story with too
many morals. Studying without procrastinating might lead to better results but
we tend to think about short term returns more than long term ones. I will take
this statement further in the next post to show you how you can be perfectly
rational and yet totally stupid when it comes to buying bottled water.
I happen to agree with you but can't help but doubt if we are thinking rationally or merely rationalizing.
ReplyDeletemaybe we're rationalizing. but hey, rationalizing too is a rational behavior if it makes you feel happy. Anyway, rational choice assumes people do things to maximize their happiness. If we feel better be rationalizing, it means we're rational. But in this case, I will disagree. I have tried to explain why most people procrastinate studying. There's no reason for me to rationalize procrastinating. If I know procrastination is irrational, i wouldn't do it. If however, procrastination gives me happiness or if i do other things i like instead of studying, i'm acting rationally because i''m maximizing my happiness. Even if you assume, I have nothing better to do, than you will still agree with me studying for most people isn't a pleasurable activity, hence if i can reduce pain by not studying when the cost of not studying is low, I will do it!
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