by Stacy Wong

Created on: June 21, 2008

With scarce resources and unlimited wants in the world, choices have to be made so that these resources can be allocated optimally to society. Similarly, with the limited ability and time we have juxtaposed by the numerous goals we desire to achieve, making choices and sacrifices has become an inevitable part of life. We might typically be willing to give up more for something we truly value, but measuring what we value only by what we sacrifice seems to oversimplify our decision-making processes. Sometimes, a compromise must be made between these two entities - a balance that must be struck and that could be influenced by forces beyond our control.

Consider a person named Peter, who strongly believes in honesty. Undoubtedly, he will try to uphold his integrity as best as he can at all times and at all costs. But he must recognise that there are certain times when his honesty might serve to his detriment, for a person like Peter who is extremely honest can hardly be tactful: when an obese woman asks him for a frank opinion of her weight, he does not hesistate to reply that she is overweight. This would not only place the person in a negative light, but also make him seem as a person who is insensitive to others' feelings.

Perhaps then, an obsession or over-inclination to one's beliefs may not be that good. After all, we should always do things in moderation. In Peter's case, he needs to exercise his discretion in terms of honest - when to stay true to his beliefs and when to spill the beans.

This analogy clearly shows why determining what we value only be what we sacrifice is undesirable. Our firmness in our beliefs are only put to the test in the most dire of circumstances.

Using Peter as an example again, if he were to find out that his family member had committed a crime, would he choose to disclose this information to the police? Should he truly want to uphold his integrity, by right, he would not decide to hide the truth from the authorities. Otherwise, it would mean that he values family ties more than honesty.

In any case, our values change as we age. There never can be a foolproof method of analysing how strongly we hold to our beliefs. There is no one value that people will hold on to dearly for his entire life. Different circumstances call for different values to work by. At best, we can only gauge how firmly we stick to our values by looking at what we sacrifice and what we would do given the most extreme situations.

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