The Paradox of Choice
by Barry Schwartz
Lowdown: Loved it. Schwartz explains why we do what we do and how modern-day society (the USA in particular) contributes to our general malaise and unhappiness. But what I really loved were all the studies he uses to shed a greater light on human behavior. Bears a second, and more careful, reading.
Here we are, living at the pinnacle of human possibility, awash in material abundance. As a society, we have achieved what our ancestors could, at most, only dream about, but it has come at a great price. We get what we say we want, only to discover that what we want doesn’t satisfy us to the degree that we expect. We are surrounded by modern, time-saving devices, but we never seem to have enough time. We are free to be the authors of our own lives, but we don’t know exactly what kind of lives we want to “write.”
The “success” of modernity turns out to be bittersweet, and everywhere we look it appears that a significant contributing factor is the overabundance of choice. Having too many choices produces psychological distress, especially when combined with regret, concern about status, adaptation, social comparison, and perhaps most important, the desire to have the best of everything-to maximize.
I learned a lot from this book, more than I’ve learned from a book in a long time. There are so many studies about and insights into human behavior, I could quote one a day for probably a month. I’m mad I didn’t do a better job writing them down. I’m going to have to buy a copy now (fortunately, it’s available in paperback) and re-read it.
If you’re at all interested in coming to a better understanding of why you do what you do, you simply must pick up this book. If I could afford it, I’d buy one for each of my friends and family members.
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