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The paradox of choice 😏 . . . 📸 by Pete Gray on flickr #paradoxofchoice #theparadoxofchoice #lessismore #moreisless #laundry #laundryday #designfail #baddesign #confusing #washingmachineinterface #uglydesign #interfacefail #design #sensoryoverload #laundrymemes #flickr #flickrphoto #chores #laundrynightmares #laundrystruggles https://www.instagram.com/p/CUcSua_vDTd/?utm_medium=tumblr
New book day, TED Talk recommendation. #TheParadoxOfChoice #LessIsMore #BarrySchwartz #Psychology #TED #TEDTalks #Book #Bookstagram
on choices.
as i served coffee to what felt like hundreds of people this morning, i thought about how most of the time i was interacting with them was spent waiting for their order. how many hours do we spend this way, i wondered. with no shortage of options in sight, it seems that it has become more, and more time consuming to make a decision! this isn’t just true for your next coffee shop purchase, but for virtually every choice you’re confronted with.
as stated in barry schwartz’s, “a paradox of choice”, “the fact that some choice is good doesn’t necessarily mean that more choice is better . . . there is a cost to having an overload of choice” (3).
with more choices comes more time spent making a decision, and the chance of feeling uncertainty. how can we remain self-assured when it may not be feasible to weigh every option? if you were shopping for a pair of shoes for an event it would be impossible to sort through every pair in order to know that you got the absolute perfect ones. that’s stressful!
it’s even more tolling when you realize that not all decision making processes are as light, and mundane, as caffeine and fashion. from a very young age we’re all asked the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”. how intense it is to think that we should have any concept of that answer at age 10?! the question is still asked nonchalantly as we grow up, but just because our options have veered away from the fantastical doesn’t mean expecting a solid answer is any more realistic. many people spend their entire lives working on this decision and are still never fully resolved with their choice.
i’m sure you’re thinking, well great, but what can we do about it? i think the first step is being aware that this exponential increase of choice has no end in sight, and maybe that’s how we want it. if you want to be able to customize and get precisely what you want, knowing everyone has individual tastes, there will never stop being more and more options. secondly, i think we need to decide what kind of choice makers we are. are we able to contend with a choice made with less time invested, that still satisfies our need; or, must we spend more time in order to feel confident we made the best judgement? maybe this changes with the nature of each decision.
as i spend more time honing in on this for myself, i hope to understand the situations where choice can be overwhelming, but there may not be a need for anxiety and guilt. knowing that the thousands of choices we are confronted with daily can create a feeling of intensity, but that ultimately we can be satisfied despite the missed options, can help ease decision-making worry. as long as you choose the things that bring you the most happiness, the risk of disappointment is so much lower. the best truth of all to hold onto is that it is never too late to change your mind, and to make another choice - there may be a billion options, but the choice is always yours!
RSA Animate - The Paradox of Choice
In this new RSA Animate, Professor Renata Salecl explores the paralysing anxiety and dissatisfaction surrounding limitless choice. Does the freedom to be the architects of our own lives actually hinder rather than help us? Does our preoccupation with choosing and consuming actually obstruct social change?
View the full lecture here: http://www.thersa.org/events/video/ar... Taken from the RSA's free public events programme www.thersa.org/events. The RSA was established in the heart of the Enlightenment, and is dedicated to driving social progress and spreading world-changing ideas. Find out more about the RSA at http://www.thersa.org Join the RSA on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thersaorg ------ This audio has been edited from the original event by Becca Pyne. Series produced by Abi Stephenson, RSA. Animation by Cognitive Media.
