Thanks to Olenka who pointed me to this great talk by Barry Schwartz on why too much choice is bad for us.
Too many choices cause:
- Paralysis rather than liberation - people prefer to make no decision rather than make a complicated choice.
- Less satisfaction with decisions as people have greater reason to regret the decisions they have made.
- Unrealistic expectations.
- Self-blame - when experiences are not perfect, people blame themselves.
Schwartz also argues that in modern affluent societies, too much choice may be a significant contributor to depression. He is the author of 'The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
Consumer Psychology
→ This post is part of a series on consumer psychology:
- How Beliefs and Values Influence What Tastes Good
- Six Psychological Reasons Consumer Culture is Unsatisfying
- Buying Green is About Being Seen
- Faking It: The Psychological Cost
- Why Loud Music in Bars Increases Alcohol Consumption
- Why Do People Watch Scary Movies, Stay in Ice Hotels or Eat Bacon-Flavoured Ice-Cream?
- How to Choose Between Experiential and Material Purchases
- Ads For Unhealthy Foods Increase Children’s Consumption 45%
- Diners Spend More In Lavender-Scented Restaurant
- Barry Schwartz on Why Too Much Choice is Bad for Us
- Sex Doesn’t Sell (Neither Does Violence)
The science of creativity
As Pablo Picasso once pointed out, all children are creative; the challenge is to remain creative into adulthood.
Unfortunately public education systems around the world seem designed to crush creativity in favour of rote learning and test passing. As the years pass a fear of being wrong takes over from our natural creative tendencies.
Unlike mathematics, languages or the humanities, we are rarely taught about creativity, despite its importance to our lives. Yet the information is out there, waiting to be used.
If you would like to be more creative at work and at home—and that has to be most of us—the insights in this ebook will be useful.
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