The Paradox of Choice

Part of me is conflicted about sharing this with you, because it is so great a secret, but since I promised myself I would finish a blog post today, it is the only thing I can say with conviction.  Coffee is the best. It is not a subjective statement, or a matter of taste.  It's just the best.  Let me tell you why.  Actually, I don't have time to go into it.  You'll just have to trust me...i'ts amazing. I'm at right now enjoying the free wi-fi, but what am I not enjoying? The coffee.  Not because it is bad coffee, but because it is relatively bad coffee, which is worse than having bad coffee.  Because I know there is something better in Crystal Lake, I am dissatisfied with what would have otherwise been great coffee (albeit to naive taste-buds).


This is one of the dilemmas I have been dealing with lately, which I suspect you struggle with as well.  We live in a  time where choice has become virtually limitless.  Dating, clothing, career choice; though not simple propositions per se, have become so inflated with options, that true satisfaction about any decision is very rare indeed.  The simple knowledge that there might have existed a better fit, where it be jeans or a spouse, can be very discouraging.  Freedom of choice, therefore, has the potential to lead to less satisfaction, not more. What's the answer?  Psychologist and author Barry Schwartz has an interesting lecture called "the paradox of choice" that he presents here (http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choic...).  He offers some good thoughts, and has definitely made me think, but I was ultimately dissatisfied with his solution, which is basically that happiness results in a low set of expectations.  I would be interested to hear what you think the solution is.  Feel free to leave a comment.  I'll write more on this later I imagine, but these are just some initial thoughts.  Cheers!