"Contradictory Proverbs IV"

"The early bird catches the worm. " - Ancient Proverb.

Sure... but wait, doesn't the second mouse get the cheese?

No doubt, there are advantages to being first, but there is also a lot to learn from others' experiences.

An incident that happened a few months ago: I went to the hospital for some injections. The whole process took me less than an hour, but that was only because my friends who had been through the same process a couple days earlier knew exactly where to go and in what order. They had found those things out the hard way--by spending an entire day at the hospital! They got their shots earlier, but I got them done much quicker.

Of course, that was just one case and you can easily find a counterexample. As usual, it depends. It depends on what you're looking for. Maybe you want something, anything, but quickly. Maybe you want something better.

To sneak in another proverb, good things in life are worth the wait. Maybe sometimes it's better to be the second mouse than be the early bird?

P.S: Cheese > Worms !

"The Illusion of Choice"

Full disclaimer: Not one of my theories. This was told by one of my professors and I found it interesting enough to share.


If you were provided with the following subscription options for a magazine, what would you choose?

Option 1: Online only - $49.99/year

Option 2: Print only - $69.99/year

Option 3: Print + online - $69.99/year


If your reaction was "wait, why is option 2 present at all? No one in their right mind would choose 'print only' when they could get print AND online for the same price! ", read on.

Option 2 is provided only to give you the illusion of choice. Option 2 makes option 3 "look good".

If you were looking to purchase only the online version (for $49.99), you might be tempted by "what a good deal" the combo is. Think about it again--if you were offered only choices 1 and 3, would you have spent time thinking about option 3? Probably not.

With option 2 being offered, would you give more consideration to option 3 than if option 2 was not offered? I would!

The reality is that the online version doesn't cost them very much, and they can afford to provide this service for "free", when the end result is that they've got $20 more from you than you intended to give them.

Even if a small percentage of people who intended to spend $49.99 end up spending $69.99 instead, this has worked out very well for them, at little to no cost!

The same principle is at play at the fast food joints where they offer "combos" of burgers, fries and coke. I go there for a burger, not intending to buy a coke, but I take the combo because I get a "good deal", ultimately spending several dollars more than I intended to.

It's freakin' brilliant.

"Somethin' Stupid"

This is one of those things too.

"Examinations"

As the first leg of the course comes to an end, a comment I've often heard is, "What? You guys don't have examinations?! That must be so much better than Engineering!"

Well, it's not. Not really.

True, there is no need for "last minute cramming" and one bad day cannot ruin your grades for the entire semester*. 

However, you cannot loiter about for the whole semester and study "just enough" a couple days  before the finals. This strategy may have worked for you during your undergrad, but it is not going to work now*.

(*Note: In theory. In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is. That's a whole new topic for a whole different blog post, but probably one that will never see the electrons of the Internet.)

The best analogy I can make is probably this: It's like asking whether Chinese water torture is better than waterboarding.

The point being: It doesn't matter! One is fast and painful; the other is slow and maddening.  But at the end of the day, both are torture!

"Injections"

Injections are underrated. They are stealthy; they can be painful, and have the potential to cause great harm. 

I hate injections. I try my best to avoid injections.

I use PreparedStatements.