Big Decisions On daily occasions human beings are subjected, whether voluntary or involuntary; to situations forcing them make big decisions without any clue to their outcome. Apparently, these decisions lead some of individuals be faced by dilemmas regarding whether to execute their decisions since they do not what they need, want or desire. In this paper, attention shall be focused on the instances where people are faced with big decisions and why it is difficult to plan and make rational decisions. Summary In his article, “The Big Decisions,”David Brooks asserts that transformative decisions may be likened with the choice of becoming a vampire where with a magical bite individual transforms to a new superhuman life. However, as notified that such a new life may be incredible, though irreversible, it may be nasty and difficulty to make the choice and acquire a new self without having a clear consent on how it feels, thereafter. Transformative decisions are life-altering aspects that changes human cognitive thinking permanently as they acquire new status, life and a different version of self. Therefore, it becomes hard to plan and make rational decisions as no one is sure to the certainty of the underlying transformative decision being made. Getting a child, becoming a military officer, marrying, switching religions, immigrating and change of careers are part of the transformative decisions that to a bigger extent face human beings in their living. In my opinion, Brooke has managed to illustrate how we are faced by transformative decisions to make in various aspects of our lives. One way of ensuring that you make the right decision in the various circumstances is by asking the right questions. Brooks argues that a pure version of such experience deciding on whether to have a child, or not. Empirically, individuals who have children have revealed to suffer a loss in their well-being. They appear more exhausted and tend to drive a lower satisfied life than their childless counterparts. However, once a parent the chances of presuming the former pre-parental self are minimal and infeasible. Similarly, other transformative decisions follow this lineage of irreversibility of the self. In conclusion, Brooks argues that asking the right questions is the only aspect that drives the right decision. Running head: THE BIG DECISIONS 1 THE BIG DECISIONS 2 THE BIG DECISIONS Name: Institution: Date: THE BIG DECISIONS INTRODUCTION In life, choices are inevitable. Humans are faced by different situations every day. Humans are influenced by situations on what to think and how to go about our lives. Some might be irreversible while others are just simple decisions for instance, what to wear or eat. In this essay we will be discussing transformational decisions. These decisions are irreversible, and their impacts are very vital in our lives. Once made, a person has to face the consequences that come with them. These decisions include having a ba ...

1. Big Decisions
On daily occasions human beings are subjected, whether
voluntary or involuntary; to situations forcing them make big
decisions without any clue to their outcome. Apparently, these
decisions lead some of individuals be faced by dilemmas
regarding whether to execute their decisions since they do not
what they need, want or desire. In this paper, attention shall be
focused on the instances where people are faced with big
decisions and why it is difficult to plan and make rational
decisions.
Summary
In his article, “The Big Decisions,”David Brooks asserts that
transformative decisions may be likened with the choice of
becoming a vampire where with a magical bite individual
transforms to a new superhuman life. However, as notified that
such a new life may be incredible, though irreversible, it may be
nasty and difficulty to make the choice and acquire a new self
without having a clear consent on how it feels, thereafter.
Transformative decisions are life-altering aspects that changes
human cognitive thinking permanently as they acquire new
status, life and a different version of self. Therefore, it
becomes hard to plan and make rational decisions as no one is
sure to the certainty of the underlying transformative decision
being made.
Getting a child, becoming a military officer, marrying,
switching religions, immigrating and change of careers are part
of the transformative decisions that to a bigger extent face
human beings in their living.
In my opinion, Brooke has managed to illustrate how we are
faced by transformative decisions to make in various aspects of
our lives. One way of ensuring that you make the right decision

2. in the various circumstances is by asking the right questions.
Brooks argues that a pure version of such experience deciding
on whether to have a child, or not. Empirically, individuals who
have children have revealed to suffer a loss in their well-being.
They appear more exhausted and tend to drive a lower satisfied
life than their childless counterparts. However, once a parent
the chances of presuming the former pre-parental self are
minimal and infeasible. Similarly, other transformative
decisions follow this lineage of irreversibility of the self.
In conclusion, Brooks argues that asking the right questions is
the only aspect that drives the right decision.
Running head: THE BIG DECISIONS
1
THE BIG DECISIONS
2
THE BIG DECISIONS
Name:
Institution:
Date:
THE BIG DECISIONS
INTRODUCTION
In life, choices are inevitable. Humans are faced by different
situations every day. Humans are influenced by situations on
what to think and how to go about our lives. Some might be
irreversible while others are just simple decisions for instance,
what to wear or eat. In this essay we will be discussing
transformational decisions. These decisions are irreversible, and
their impacts are very vital in our lives. Once made, a person
has to face the consequences that come with them. These

3. decisions include having a baby, changing careers, relocating
among others. When facing these situations, we need to really
understand the impact of these decisions. The consequences that
come with them are long term and thus we need to be sure
whether we are ready to face them.
SUMMARY
Transformational decisions are not easy to make and live by.
This means that the individual is willing to entirely change their
lives. As much as sometimes we do not want to accept, we are
always aware of our conscious thoughts and our ability to make
informed decisions. We are always fully aware that the choices
we make every day have consequences. Whatever choices we
make will have an impact on ourselves or other people around
us. For instance, one may choose to skip school and go drinking
with their friends. The individual knows very well that if they
are caught they will be grounded by their parents and the
teachers will have to punish them. For transformational
decisions, L.A Paul thinks that humans are ignorant when
making these decisions and that it is unlikely for us to make
purely rational choices. We do not have any idea what these
decisions will do to our lives. We are uncertain whether we will
like our future selves more than our current selves.
THESIS
In the article Big Decisions, David Brooks suggests that when a
person makes a transformational decision, they will have to
leave their old selves and acquire a new self. One will be
required to step outside the modern conception of ourselves as
cognitive creatures.
BODY
Transformational decisions are challenging decisions to make

4. and uphold. They change our lives completely. When these
decisions are made, we acquire a whole new life. This means
that we become totally different people. No one prepares you
for these major changes that one will be experiencing. An
individual can only use their brains and preferences to guess
whether they will enjoy their new selves or not. For instance,
before joining the army, one may ask around their military
friends how the experience is. Some may even decide to watch
military movies and also use google to seek others experiences.
They will gather information and the results we find most
certainly are a bit challenging. Even with these, an individual
does not know how they will feel about it. Therefore, they will
be forced to make judgments for various reasons. They may
view it as a calling rather than a choice they have to make.
When making these transformational decisions, we should
always ask ourselves the right questions. It is important that an
individual realizes and acknowledges the fact that we humans
were born with an intense desire to learn and know. Questions
like if I will like this new I should be avoided. No one would
know if they will like something they have not experienced yet.
Curiosity should be applied in this scenario.
One person’s experience may not be similar for others. For
instance, some people will enjoy parenthood than others. For
some people it gets really difficult, they give up their children
for adoptions while others even leave them on the sidewalks.
These people probably saw how happy their friends or
neighbors were when they had their children and they thought it
would be same for them. Therefore, when making these
decisions, we should not base our experiences on those of
others. We should make these choices based on whether we
personally want to discover who we will become.
Basing our decisions on our moral intuition enables us to live

5. more fulfilled lives than basing these decisions on our desires.
Humans’ tastes, desires and preferences change every day.
Today, an individual might prefer meat and the next day, they
suddenly want to be vegans. These desires are allowed for
simple life decisions that can be reversed. However, these big
life’s decisions should not be based on desires. Relocating,
having children, joining the military, changing religions among
others are big irreversible decisions. One should sit and really
give these decisions a thought. Making rushed decisions on
these matters can lead to someone being miserable in life. These
decisions are a big deal and they affect the lives of individuals
to a point of changing them. We should make these decisions
based on our moral intuition. One should ask themselves if they
are ready to become this new person. Reason being, once one
has brought that infant in life, they will be required to raise it.
They ensure they protect and care for it until end of time. There
is no time a child is too old to be on its own in their parents’
eyes. These decisions are irreversible, thus, when making them
we should be sure we want these changes to happen in our lives.
In her article, L.A Paul suggests that we should live life as a
series of revelations. She thinks that making decisions should
be based on if we want to discover who we will become in the
future. This means that, we should accept challenges that are
thrown our way with minimal analyzing. However, David
Brooks does not concur with her. He thinks that living life
basing on pure curiosity is too thin and ephemeral. I concur
with Brook, for some decisions are too thick for mere curiosity.
Transformational decisions, once made cannot be unmade. They
have big impacts not only on the individual’s life but also on
the society. For instance, having a baby does not only involve
the parents but also the life of the child. Joining the military is
also a big deal for the parents, siblings and the spouses of the
individual. These decisions are major and thus should be given
more weight. Curiosity may fade after sometimes and it will be

6. devastating if it fades after a person has made a permanent
decision. Living life as a series of revelation may be tricky at
some point in life. We need to ask ourselves if we are ready for
some of these changes that we want to take place in our lives.
CONCLUSION
When making transformational decisions, we need to be ready
for the new life that these decisions will bring. We should avoid
rushing into these decisions because our peers or friends are
doing it. Their experiences will be different from ours. To avoid
regretting our decisions, we need to be sure of what we want.
We need to involve our moral intuition when making these
decisions. These decisions bring about so much change in our
lives and most of them are challenging. We should think them
through, analyzing the possible outcomes that we may face
when we make these decisions.
As much as curiosity may be a contributing factor, it should not
be the only force that helps us make these decisions. Giving
these decisions a thought and being sure of what we want to
become is essential. We do not want to live our lives regretting
the decisions we made because we were basically curious.