Choice: too much? too little? or just right?
Details
Choice is all around us: on supermarket shelves; on Rightmove; on dating sites; which career to choose; diet and lifestyle choices… Do we have too much choice? Perhaps it would be simpler if someone just told us what to do, and save us all that agonising decision making.
Do we even have choices?
Or is our life path defined by our circumstances.
Perhaps everything is determined by fate and choice is an illusion.
Why do some people end up working in Tesco while others learn a skill?
Why do some people grow old and die in the town where they were born while others go to Manhattan or Tokyo?
Do younger people have more choices than older people?
Is there such a thing as too much choice (or at least, too much perception of choice)?
Does too much choice lead to stress and anxiety?
How can we manage our opportunities for choice effectively?
Do our choices even make any difference?
How often do you simply wait for someone, or events, to tell you what to do instead of choosing for yourself?
In what sense is doing nothing about a situation, (perhaps because you just can't decide), actually a "choice"?
How often do you choose something wacky? Something that most people would never choose?
How many significant choices have you made in your life?
- Not just whether to have sugar or which cake to have.
- The kind of decision that will affect the rest of your life.
How did you choose your career?
Did it just happen? Or did you put a lot of thought into it?
John Lennon said:
‘Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans’.
Did you ever have challenging and fun ideas (like learning to pole dancing or going to Sri Lanka) that you never got to because of all your other obligations?
Did you ever do those fun things?
Do choices make a difference to your happiness?
Søren Kierkegaard (Danish philosopher) said:
'Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way.'
Was he right? Or conversely, with a more positive attitude, perhaps: you will be happy either way?
Existentialism is a philosophy about making choices.
We come to this earth with no predetermined meaning.
We have to find our own meaning and make our own choices.
Sartre (French philosopher) said 'We are condemned to be free'.
Does this describe your own life? Or did you just do whatever fate had in store for you?
In what ways does a "choice" differ from a "decision", if at all?
To what extent are our choices made by intuition - what "feels right", as opposed to more explicit rational evaluation? Which approach is most likely to lead to the best outcome for which type of choice?
Are "choices" more emotional and "decisions" more rational?
Some suggested preparation:
https://behavioralscientist.org/is-having-too-many-choices-versus-too-few-really-the-greater-problem-for-consumers/
https://bigthink.com/thinking/choice-analysis-paralysis/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow
I'll provide tea/coffee. You are welcome to bring other drinks/nibbles.
Choice: too much? too little? or just right?