Too Many ChoicesBarry Schwartz presents an interesting talk on the number of choices that are available to our current society, and that while in some aspects having several choices is a good thing, it is overall counter-productive and diminishing to individual welfare.
I agree with Mr. Schwartz. I believe that with so many choices in our lives we are actually forced to make no choice at all.In this presentation the two effects of too many choices discussed were that people will opt to not make a choice because they do not know which the best is, or they will make a choice and then regret it because another choice might have been better, thus ruining whatever choice they did make.
I think that both of these statements are true. Another fall out that can be tied into this reasoning is that with too many choices people do not know who to trust, and think that so many choices are being presented to confuse them, and again, are turned off from making a decision at all. It is easy for deceptive marketers to take advantage of an unknowing society.I agree that when I go to the doctor I want to be told which treatment is best for me.
I do not want to have to choose because I do not have any experience in that field. That is the purpose of seeing a doctor. When I decide to go on a vacation, I do not want to have hundreds of similar trips to choose from, because then I will have to agonize over the details of what makes one better then the other, and then second guess myself afterwards. I think that the poor economy we currently experience is only going to lead to more choices and hard decisions.
People are going to have less income and be forced to become more frugal with their purchases. They are going to want the best bargain for their dollar, and that will lead to a whole new host of products of services.
