This book is about the abundance of choices that we have now and how’s that making our lives even more miserable. Maybe I don’t need a book to tell me that, but sometimes, there are things that we just don’t see. For example, I’m a channel surfer. So imagine what an increase in number of channels do to me… Maybe I’ll just get rid of the television. ;) ( )

In a society where anything is possible, picking just one thing can be overwhelming. This book vividly details the causality of anxiety in choice of plenty and sites remedies in appreciating the everyday. This book is an excellent source on the road to finding satisfaction in the culture of abundance, as it is well written and sited. ( )

A wonderful book that argues that while some choice is a good thing, too much choice makes us very unhappy.

It shows us in what parts of our lives we get too much choice, and what psychological mechanisms play a part, and some ways we can stop ourselves from sufering more than necessary.

Recommended. ( )

Paradox of Choice offers an interesting theory that there is such thing as too much choice, and shows how choice restricts freedom albeit not convincingly. Still it is thought provoking, and some people who are sure they need to have the 'best' choice (a.k.a the perfect choice, just another more narrow version of perfectionism) are people who suffer. The author calls them maximizers. The author then argues that the unlimited choice actually creates maximizers, and this is the part that is unconvincing.

My own struggles with perfectionism lead me to believe that perfectionism is not always pervasive. Perfectionism with regard to the knowledge I have and the way I express it, but never with my choices of clothing or groceries (I guess I am not a maximizer), but yes with my choice of computer and computer games/software/hardware (so yes a maximizer here). So, maximizers are not always pervasive. Yes, agreed that the seemingly unlimited choice is sometimes irritating, but you have to try the jeans or khakis on before you leave anyway (different manufacturers have different ideas of sizing). So, I still think the problem lies with the PERCEPTION and not with the seemingly UNLIMITED CHOICE itself. Being able to make decisions easily is one of the attractive qualities of a leader, and since most of the society is at least somewhat lacking in leadership abilities it is not surprising that the society has trouble choosing the 'good enough' (author calls them satisficers) choices rather than anguishing over the 'best' choice.

With that said, this book deserves 4 stars. (It made me think about other ways in which I COULD express my perfectionism, but thank goodness, I have up till now chosen not to.) ( )

A solid read in the same vein as 'Blink', 'The Tipping Point, and 'The Wisdom of Crowds'.

I think a lot of my life is based on the philosophy this book espouses... My Dad thinks my motto at restaurants is "He knows what he likes and he likes what he knows". This seems to go along with this book's position of satisficing when a menu of options is large.

Some noteworthy quotes:

"A New Yorker piece about this phenomenon identified at least six different kinds of casual: active casual, rugged casual, sporty casual, dressy casual, smart casual, and business casual. As writer John Seabrook put it, "This may be the most depressing thing about the casual movement: no clothing is casual anymore."
- pg 36

"One way of achieving this goal is by keeping wonderful experiences rare. No matter what you can afford, save great wine for special occassions. No matter what you can afford, make that perfectly cut, elegantly styled, silk blouse a special treat. This may seem like an exercise in self-denial, but I don't think it is. On the contrary, it's a way to make sure that you can continue to experience pleasure. What's the point of great meals, great wines, and great blouses if they don't make you feel great?"
- pg187 ( )

The information in the book was interesting, but the writing was not great. It was like the author (who is a college professor) had someone transcribe his lectures for the semester, and he then did slight editing to make a book. Something was missing. And he referenced points, like "wouldn't it be interesting to know...?" and never followed up-fine for a class, but I would expect an author to do that. ( )

Why, with so many options availble to us, are we not happier? Author Barry Schwartz opens this book by walking us through his neighbourhood grocery store, where there are 85 brands of crackers, 285 brands of cookies, 75 iced teas, 360 types of shampoo........

This is an economics perspective on the utility of choice. Easy to read, insightful, thought-provoking. When is "enough" enough? ( )

We are living during a time of copious choice. Prosperity washes us with abundant possibilities. Yet, when we receive what we thought we wanted, we often find ourselves wanting.

Barry Schwartz, a Swarthmore College professor, citing research results from psychologists, economists, market researchers and decision scientists makes five counter-intuitive arguments in this book, The Paradox of Choice: Why Less is More. We would be better off if we:

1. Voluntarily constrained our freedom of choice.
2. Sought “good enough” instead of “the best.”
3. Lowered our expectations about decision’s results.
4. Made nonreversible decisions.
5. Paid less attention to what others around us do.

Schwartz notes we are constantly being asked to make choices, even about the simplest things. This forces us to "invest time, energy, and no small amount of self-doubt, and dread." There comes a point, he contends, at which choice becomes debilitating rather than liberating. Too much of a good thing becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being, he states.

In the final, Schwartz offers an 11-step program for reducing choice’s “tyranny.”

1. Choose when to choose.
2. Be a Chooser, not a picker.
3. Satisfice more; maximize less.
4. Consider the opportunity costs of opportunity costs.
5. Make your decisions nonreversible.
6. Adopt an “attitude of gratitude.”
7. Regret less.
8. Anticipate adaptation.
9. Control expectations.
10. Curtail social comparisons.
11. Learn to love constraints.

I have always had trouble accepting the virtues of what Isaiah Berlin, the political philosopher, terms “negative liberty” or “freedom from.” In my mind “positive liberty” or “freedom to” is always the preferred option.

Schwartz’s book makes a compelling case, however, that less can be more.

Penned by the Pointed Pundit
November 6, 2006
10:24:50 AM ( )

One would think that with more and better choices being presented to us all the time, we would experience greater satisfaction with our lives. In fact, the opposite often happens. More choice means more time trying to find the best choice, and more dissatisfaction when we do finally choose, because of the cumulating opportunity costs of all the choices we reject. Paul van Delst suggested this book to me as a way to understand why an IDL development environment that provides unlimited choices for me is making my life less fun and productive and not more so. Schwartz provides an interesting analysis of the problem of choice and makes several suggestions for how we might structure our lives to live in an increasingly complex world. ( )

This book talks about the classic irony of how having more things or more choices can ultimately work against us. This may sound obvious, like "who needs to be told THAT?"... but Schwartz shows us examples of how we bury ourselves with so many things and so many options that in the end we drown in our mass of possibilities.
I've tried to learn from his examples. Take T shirts: in my drawers, I probably have 40 or 50 of them. But I have favorites: if you broke it down, I probably have 10 or 12 that I wear most of the time. And since I wear them, they get washed, put back on top of the rest, and it's just that much easier to pick out the same 20% over and over.
The question becomes: why don't I throw the rest out?
In the more complicated world, I have answers like "that one was a gift" and "I wear that one in the summer". Or probably,"I wear that one A LOT", when in truth, I really don't know what I do on a day-to-day scale.
Schwartz' book makes you think about that--how choices are made in spite of our supposed "awareness". If you've ever moved you know exactly what I'm talking about--not just the work of packing and loading, but the anxiety of deciding, of coming to grips with the fact that you don't need (and rarely use)most of the things you have in life. It's easy to forget, and even easier to deny. Whether it be books you'll never get around to reading or sweaters that will never fit again or decisions you'll never get around to making because there are too many options to consider, we end up ultimately making only one decision: to not make any, at least for the moment. ( )

Author Talk on TED http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/vi...
Author Website http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bsch...

This was a very interesting look at how, while having no choice is definitely bad, too much choice can almost as detrimental to our psychological well-being. Schwartz examines the differences between maximizers, who attempt to get the absolute best of everything, and satisficers, who are willing to settle for good enough. Good enough could very well be high quality, but satisficers are all right with the idea that there may still be something out there that is even better. Maximizers are bothered by this, and have difficulty making choices, since there are always more options available that might be better.

I tend to fall on the satificer end of the scale for most things, but there are some exceptions. I have a hard time picking a meal in a restaurant, for instance, because I can't decide which one will be the best experience. This book was an interesting look at how unlimited choice can make us less happy with what we have, and I picked up some good tips for being satisfied with my life, even though the tips themselves weren't anything I hadn't heard before. Having more of an explanation behind them makes it easier to apply these ideas to my life. ( )

Mild but interesting. I was expecting more after watching Barry Schwartz's presentation at the TED Conference (www.ted.com). The type of book falls into something Schwartz would make his students buy when they are in his class, not a pure textbook with tight sentences backed by data with all the citations. There is a lot of data from experiments but also liberal with anecdotes, cultural statistics, and Schwartz's theories. At it's essence, a book about how our modern culture, by providing us with more freedom of choice and opportunity, actually drives more people to unhappiness. ( )

A psychological study of mind's decision making and choice process, and consequence of that in current world of choice-overload. Drastic, in general, (not to me) but often repetitive in its conclusion yet fascinating in the process and studies cited. ( )

The paradox of choice : why more is less by Barry Schwartz, explains Choice are not always freedom. Self-determination that we enjoy at some points might turn to psychologically and emotionally dangerous.

more @ http://toogood2read.blogspot.com/2007...

A book about psykchology and economics that is presented in a way that makes it fun to read. The examples the authors uses are so relevant -- and in my non-fiction book discussion group, everyone had examples of their own. Explains a lot of the frustration people feel when they're forced into a buying decision that has waaaaaay too many variables. ( )

Brilliant re-appraisal of the effects of product/information proliferation.

The Paradox of Choice is all about how America's vast array of choices bogs us down by forcing us to wrap up all our time and energy in making good decisions about a lot of inconsequential stuff. We feel the need to sample or view ALL of the choices before making a decision-- particularly if the decision is an important one-- and we still cannot attain the perfect choice. As a result, we are less happy with the end result.

The author is very engaging and offers many examples to build his case. Although I find most non-fiction incredibly dry, this book is accessible and easy to get into. I found it a fascinating look at American society. ( )

Just got it. I'll let you know

http://rivkat.livejournal.com/135332.... ( )

http://captnsaj.blogspot.com/2006/04/... ( )

Some of the conclusions drawn by the author I disagree with, but I do grant that sometimes we get too bogged down in the choices to really actually DO anything. Another good point he touches on is that many people are so tightly bound to keeping their options open, that they have actually put themselves into a teeny tiny little box that keeps them from experiencing anything too deeply. ( )

decided to buy fewer appliances after reading this book ( )

I took about 9 pages of notes on this book... Schwartz has some interesting things to say about our culture, and how we can often become crippled by too much choice. He manages to be pretty well-balanced, though, and never sounds preachy or bitter. He loves our society, he just realizes that so much freedom is a big responsibility and often difficult to deal with. More than just an academic study, but not entirely a self-help book, he does offer some workable tips on how to overcome being overwhelmed by choice. Definitely a recommended read. ( )