Barry Schwartz, Dorwin Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Social Action at Swarthmore College:
He thinks too much choice overwhelms us and makes us unhappy—a phenomenon he calls the paradox of choice. Endless choices, Schwartz says, are more stultifying than gratifying. In one canonical experiment dubbed “the jam study,” grocery-store shoppers scanning 24 different gourmet jams were less likely to make a purchase than shoppers who looked at only six jams. The shoppers choosing from a wider selection were also unhappier with the jam they’d bought.
I think it’s good to have some limits. If I want to buy a PC, I won’t start reading about every processor out there, I’ll only focus on a few choices.
If I want to pick a PC format, I’ll choose between a few options.
What about RAM? I’ll focus either on speed, price, or performance/price.
What about SSDs? There are so many options. Yes, but I can filter by a few criteria.
So, if your dating criteria is „it’s a man/woman”, you’ll have a lot of options, and you might think you could have gotten a better option.
But if you have limiting criteria, there are far fewer options.
I tend not to like artificial limits.
„You should spend 2x your monthly salary for a car. You should save 10% of your income, donate 10% and invest 10%. Buy recycled. Walk instead of taking the bus.”
If I set the criteria for myself, I’ll enjoy it. If I feel the criteria is imposed, I won’t like it as much.
