The Goldilocks Conundrum
Did Goldilocks strive for just-right perfection or settle for a balanced midpoint given only three choices? You can look at it both ways. Your preference might depend on your age or personal preferences.
Let’s examine Goldilocks. Goldilocks and the Three Bears is an 1837 British fairy tale written by Robert Southey. It has morphed into the modern version following a golden-haired little girl who enters the home of a bear family. She goes from porridge to chairs to beds—all being either too hot or too cold, too big or too small, too hard or too soft while searching for the “just right.”
From this children’s story, Goldilocks now ventures into some real-world applications. The Goldilocks Principle states that something must fall within certain margins, not too extreme in any direction, a safe middle ground. Developmental psychology, marketing, biology, economics, engineering, and climatology are fields that use this principle. For example, do you like your Indian food mild, medium, or spicy hot? Do you prefer solving a crossword puzzle that is easy, challenging, or hard? Do you gravitate toward basic, mid-tier, or premium products, when shopping? Do you prefer the temps of sweltering summer, breezy autumn, or icy winter?
In astronomy, the Goldilocks Zone refers to the area around a star where the temperature is “just right,” not too hot or too cold for liquid water or life to exist on a planet. Our habitable planet, Earth, is in this zone, whereas unlivable, scorching Venus and frozen Mars are not.
The Goldilocks Syndrome negatively impacts women striving toward success. The syndrome describes challenges women face who feel like they must be “just right” by avoiding a too-soft or too-harsh attitude, emotion, or opinion in a vocal and competitive workplace. Corporations, sports, arts, education, science, politics—all have ladders with slippery rungs. This perception can present problems for women. Because some people view ambitious, successful women as too emotional, pushy, or bitchy, they then perceive themselves as not fitting in or unacceptable. Thank goodness Simone Biles, Marie Curie, and Eleanor Roosevelt didn’t abide by these standards.
The Goldilocks concept is confusing. Is “just right” a negative or a positive way of thinking? Strive for a happy, balanced life, but get out of your comfort zone. Take some risks, but don’t be a daredevil. Widen and stretch margins but don’t leap over the edge. So, is “just right” a safe middle ground, perfection, or somewhere in between? People must decide for themselves.
Are some just-right thinkers constantly chasing perfection, forbidding compromise? The search is on for Mr. or Ms. Right, the perfect job, or the ideal home. Finding ultimate perfection can be all-consuming and a big waste of time. It can reduce options and enclose boundaries around us. “Just right” can be so fleeting. What is perfect today might not be so wonderful tomorrow. There is no absolute. It works at a moment in time. People, environments, and situations change. Occasionally, let’s widen or shorten our scope of choices, be a little practical, gauge what truly matters, and sometimes be content with “just good enough.”
So, Ms. Goldilocks, let’s look at your bed again. Given three choices, I’d pick the middle one, too. I have friends who would be searching for that perfect bed and, after looking at ten, still would not be satisfied with their choice. On the other hand, I know people who couldn’t care less how firm the bed is, as long as the sheets are clean and there are no bed bugs in it!
Bit by bit, that’s all she wrote…