Choice. It is my new fascination. Watched a TED talk by Barry Schwartz called the "Paradox of Choice" Barry says that people should not be given too much choice, that they become paralysed at worst, and at best, unhappy. The happiest, he says, are those who are given a limited amount of choices. Choices, he suggests, that are controlled by a structure or set of rules. Restricted, limited choices. Choose your own life! ...But pick only from the options highlighted in blue, please.
His example was jeans. It used to be that he would go to the store and buy the only kind of jeans and they were uncomfortable, but he was happy. He didn't know any better. (I'll come back to this one.) Now he goes to buy jeans and there are 36 different options. After 2 hours he found the perfect pair of jeans - never had a better fitting pair. But he was miserable. Too many choices, he says, makes you doubt your final decision, makes you critical of the slightest drawbacks, makes you think you can be a perfectionist, and leaves you always feeling unfulfilled. Therefore, limit the choices. Only a few to choose from = happier more fulfilled customers.
At first, my mind revolted against this idea. Watching our rights be quietly packed away into a box and shelved in the great closet of communism makes me think all freedom of choice should be kept, well, free.
But then - back I go to 15 years ago, sunday school. Complete freedom to choose, without allowing yourself to be bound by a set of rules, will sooner or later leave you imprisoned. I absolutely agree with that. It's a no brainer. We see it everywhere. The child that is given unrestricted freedom makes all the rest of us mothers, and probably his own mother, crazy.
So then I beleive that restricted choice, choice guided by a structure or system of beliefs, that's better.
What I do not believe, however, is that there is a person or group or government who has the right to decide for me what that system of limiting my choices should be. Unless I choose to limit someone elses choices, that is. Different story, that.
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Wow. Lots and lots to think about here.
ReplyDeleteMy main concern with limiting choice is who gets to decide which choices I'm allowed to make? Do I really want to give someone else that power?
NO. Like you, I can't think of anyone on earth I trust enough.
Obviously, Barry never shopped at a thrift store, where millions of choices is the norm. There are ways to learn how to handle lots of choices. Perhaps it would be more beneficial to teach people to quickly evaluate rather than just remove the choices? You can, like thrift shoppers, become adept and managing many choices. It's a skill.
Also, if many choices causes anxiety, shouldn't a person self-regulate--like shop at a store with fewer pairs of jeans to choose from? Or only make the choice once and then have brand loyalty?
I've found that choices end up pretty self-limiting in the end because of consequences. They really are inseparable. There is no such thing as complete, unrestricted freedom to choose. ALL choices are inseparably connected with consequences, or there would be no real choice, no accountability, no learning--no point in having agency. That's once choice we can't make--to be unbound by rules.
But, while it may be an option to steal a car, do we really consider that a valid choice we could make? Most of us don't. Likewise with jeans--while there may be 30 pair in the store, I am not really interested in ones that are too small, for men, ripped, of low quality. Those choices rule themselves out without thought from me.
Mr. Barry also seems to have oversimplified the process of choosing--the reality of most choices is we can un-choose--which means we can doubt our final decision and change it. I, personally, find that valuable (as repentance is a necessary change of final decision).
Perhaps his problem was not the number of choices, but a problem of information design? Perhaps the choices were overwhelming not because of the magnitude but because of the presentation?
Now I'm rambling....I'll have to watch his talk tomorrow and see what I think then.
I'm curious what other people think, too. I tried to bring it up with Tim, but he fell asleep (4 hours of sleep is not conducive to intelligent conversation!).
Yeah - watch the video. And yeah - I haven't been able to talk to matt about it either. His brain is already filled to capacity. I'll come back a bit later and respond more- but glad to see you here. Thanks for being a good brain to bounce off of. :)
ReplyDeleteSo the answer then, as you see it, is to teach logic and reasoning rather than limit choices? Seems so common sensical.
ReplyDeleteAnd I guess that if you are the choice offerer you should understand your "market" and whether they want lots of options (spaghetti sauce) so they can find their own personal favorite or a few good options and they'll be happy to just have it.
What I'm hearing you say is that logic and consequences should be the control factor, decided by me for me.
The other thing he said in the video (paraphrased) is that the secret to happiness is LOW expectations. I guess that if you don't feel entitled to perfection, you will be more likely to be satisfied. If you don't have a choice to get a custom fit choice, you won't expect one. Get it? Makes sense, but doesn't mean I want ANYONE to shut down the choices so that I can have low expectations and decide to "make the best of it". Which bring me to my next post. See you there. :)