The Chicken Coop

As always, worth a read (link for the one person out there who doesn’t already subscribe).

The more choices you give people, the harder it is for them to choose, and the unhappier they’ll feel. See, for example, Barry Schwartz’s book, The Paradox of Choice. Let me quote from the Publishers Weekly review: “Schwartz, drawing extensively on his own work in the social sciences, shows that a bewildering array of choices floods our exhausted brains, ultimately restricting instead of freeing us. We normally assume in America that more options (‘easy fit’ or ‘relaxed fit’?) will make us happier, but Schwartz shows the opposite is true, arguing that having all these choices actually goes so far as to erode our psychological well-being.”

This is also called Choice Paralysis – the feeling of being paralysed by the number of choices. This is the reason why I avoid Subway like the plague. There are so many choices, and I don’t see that as a good thing, at all. Holy Bagels (a local bagel place in Wellington) also allows you to make your own – if you want – but they have a fairly small selection of “pre made” ones, so I have to make – at most – two decisions (bagel flavour, filling). I get at least 6 at subway (bread/wrap, type of bread, meat/tuna/etc, salad, dressing, salt/pepper).

And, to cap it off with Subway – if I try to deviate from SOME of the things (eg, I used to eat their bacon and egg rolls on a morning – but with turkey, not bacon), they refuse to do it. “Have it your way” my ar$e.