The Content I read in the Chosen Chapter
What this book is about : At the very beginning of this book, the author introduced the origin of FOMO. In fact, the origin of this word was created by the author himself when he just entered college. Before the author became a college student, his growing environment was quite simple. But when he formally became a student of Harvard Business School, he was surrounded by a rich-choice environment. In order not to miss out on anything and fall behind others, he tried to take part in activities as many as he could. However, then he was just aware that his behavior was out of anxiety of failing to take advantage of anything happening around him. So one day, the author came up with the word “FOMO” and then spread it to his peers and even wrote this word in the school newspaper. That is the inception of “FOMO”. Until now, this word is still commonly used by numerous people.
What chapter I selected to read : After skimming the introduction, I directly chose to read the next chapter, “Your FOMO’s Not Your Fault,” for it resonated with me the most among all chapters. It attributed FOMO to three factors, which are biology, culture, technology, respectively. Each section utilizes some examples to describe what causes humankind to have that kind of negative feeling.
The reflection of the reading : The reason why I chose to read this book is that I’m fond of reading books pertaining to psychology. And also, I think I’ve been kind of in the condition of fear of missing out recently. Thus, I would like to find out the solutions to my problems through this book and learn more about the concept of this commonly-used expression nowadays. When I first read through the brief history of FOMO and the author’s Freshman story, I just felt like, “Wow! This is so me.” Last year as a Freshman in NTUST, I experienced the same thing as the author did before. At that time, everything seemed so new and fresh to me. Plus, I was eager to change myself and be more active; therefore, I seized every chance to participate in many different activities even though I wasn’t so interested in them or didn’t have that much time. After a few months, I was left with a horrible feeling of emptiness. I couldn’t find the true meaning of spending so much time on those activities, nor did I know what I truly wanted being in an environment full of resources. Maybe it was that I did what most people did so I lost myself. During that period, I spent plenty of time finding what I hoped to chase by trial and error. Now, I’m happy that I’ve gradually figured out my hobbies and life goals. Though I’m not 100% sure what career I feel like working for, I have a rough blueprint for my future career.
After reading the chapter regarding “Your FOMO’s Not Your Fault,” I somehow understand why I had that feeling which caused me to feel anxious if I didn’t do things like what people around me did. Just like what the book mentions in the section of biology, people tend to be driven by our instinct to seek inclusion, so it’s reasonable that we sometimes follow others’ actions so as not to be excluded. The other one, technology, is the most significant part that affects modern people’s psyche. Since smartphones have been an indispensable part of our life, we’re easily affected by the content we browse, the messages we receive, etc. In this circumstance, it makes us easy to compare ourselves with others, which intensifies modern people’s feelings of anxiety and fears of missing out. I think this is the main reason for my fear of missing out in the first year of college. Looking back, if I could return to the past, I would say something to my past self, “Hey! You don’t need to be so concerned about not following other people’s steps. Just do what you want and pursue what you want to pursue. And then you’re the best version of yourself.”
Thank you for introducing such a new concept, at least to me. Your reflection is actually very subtle and relatable to many. I tried to recall if I had such an experience when I was young, and then I found that it is probably a phenomenon so common to all of us. We are either called "responsible, active, enthusiastic," or "aimless, chaotic, unorganized." However, deep down in us, it can be a manifestation of anxiety or fear, fear of showing our "incapability and inferiority." Your conclusion is quite right: we don't need to follow others' steps. But we still need to search for our own path to concentrate on.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, please just upload the cover of the book. No need of the pages you have read.
ReplyDelete