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Barry Schwartz

The Paradox of Choice

We all want the opportunity to decide things for ourselves, rather than having our lives determined by others. However, the choices available in today's society can be overwhelming, and you may begin to wonder whether choice is such a good thing. In The Paradox of Choice:Why More is Less Barry Schwarz argues that it is not, and give some advice on what we can do about it.

The book begins with examples of the choice available on supermarket shelves, where there can all to easily be hundreds of versions of one product type. Maybe that isn't so difficult to deal with, but Schwarz goes on to point out areas such as health insurance and retirement planning where making the wrong choice can have serious consequences. What is presented as consumer choice can also be seen as a way to blame the customer if things don't turn out well.

Schwartz goes on to examines the ways we make choices. Some people are 'maximizers' - they put great effort in choosing the best possible option - whereas others are 'satisficers', who will accept the first thing which meets their criteria. The book also looks at why our choices don't always provide the benefits we hope for, and at the nature of regret.

The final chapter gives the readers advice on how to deal with the choices they face everyday. However, this isn't the sort of self-help book which pushes a plan down your throat, so even if you don't intend to change the way you make choices, it's worth reading for the insight which it gives into modern life.

Amazon.com info

Paperback 304 pages
ISBN: 0060005696
Salesrank: 4809
Weight:0.57 lbs

Published: 2005 Harper Perennial

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Amazon.co.uk info

Paperback 304 pages
ISBN: 0060005696
Salesrank: 10655
Weight:0.57 lbs

Published: 2005 HarperCollins

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Amazon.ca info

Paperback 304 pages
ISBN: 0060005696
Salesrank: 610
Weight:0.57 lbs

Published: 2005 HarperCollins Canada / Non-Fiction

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Product Description
In the spirit of Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock, a social critique of our obsession with choice, and how it contributes to anxiety, dissatisfaction and regret. This paperback includes a new P.S. section with author interviews, insights, features, suggested readings, and more. Whether we’re buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions--both big and small--have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. We assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice--the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish--becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice--from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs--has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counterintuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on the important ones and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.

Product Description

In the spirit of Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock, a social critique of our obsession with choice, and how it contributes to anxiety, dissatisfaction and regret. This paperback includes a new P.S. section with author interviews, insights, features, suggested readings, and more.

Whether we’re buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions--both big and small--have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented.

We assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression.

In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice--the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish--becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice--from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs--has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse.

By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counterintuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on the important ones and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.

Provides an interesting look at how too much choice has a negative impact on well-being *****
My husband and I, both professionals (he's an attorney, I'm a psychologist), had previously had many conversations about how the plethora of choices available in modern-day life--from being able to find virtually every TV program ever made online to owning an iPod that can hold every song we'd want to hear to having access to endless reviews on amazon whenever we need to purchase a new product--somehow seemed detrimental to us, although we were never able to quite put our finger on the precise nature of the problem. So, when we came across the book The Paradox of Choice, we were amazed to find that author Barry Schwartz had done research into exactly phenomenon we had been discussing with each other. In this book, Schwartz makes a distinction between "satisficers," those who are able to ignore the vast majority of options available and accept the first choice which meets all of their needs, versus "maximizers," those who are convinced that the perfect choice exists and who are willing to ignore the costs associated with searching for this "perfect" option. Schwartz does as an excellent job of showing that maximizers tend to be more depressed and anxious. But then he moves away from the specific topic of choice to discuss the more general subject of happiness. Here Schwartz reviews some of my favorite research in psychology, including Dr. Martin Seligman's work with learned helplessness and his more recent expansion into the positive psychology field. Schwartz also references the book Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert; Dr. Gilbert makes the point that we are all particularly poor predictors of what will make us happy. In the final part of this book, Schwartz offers some strategies for dealing with the overwhelming amount of options in today's world. Although this is certainly not designed as a self-help book per se, these recommendations build on both Schwartz's own research as well as the work of the above-mentioned psychologists and are designed to help the reader find greater happiness amidst the sea of modern-day choice. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a highly readable account of this fascinating topic.

Provides an interesting look at how too much choice has a negative impact on well-being *****

My husband and I, both professionals (he's an attorney, I'm a psychologist), had previously had many conversations about how the plethora of choices available in modern-day life--from being able to find virtually every TV program ever made online to owning an iPod that can hold every song we'd want to hear to having access to endless reviews on amazon whenever we need to purchase a new product--somehow seemed detrimental to us, although we were never able to quite put our finger on the precise nature of the problem. So, when we came across the book The Paradox of Choice, we were amazed to find that author Barry Schwartz had done research into exactly phenomenon we had been discussing with each other.

In this book, Schwartz makes a distinction between "satisficers," those who are able to ignore the vast majority of options available and accept the first choice which meets all of their needs, versus "maximizers," those who are convinced that the perfect choice exists and who are willing to ignore the costs associated with searching for this "perfect" option. Schwartz does as an excellent job of showing that maximizers tend to be more depressed and anxious. But then he moves away from the specific topic of choice to discuss the more general subject of happiness. Here Schwartz reviews some of my favorite research in psychology, including Dr. Martin Seligman's work with learned helplessness and his more recent expansion into the positive psychology field. Schwartz also references the book Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert; Dr. Gilbert makes the point that we are all particularly poor predictors of what will make us happy.

In the final part of this book, Schwartz offers some strategies for dealing with the overwhelming amount of options in today's world. Although this is certainly not designed as a self-help book per se, these recommendations build on both Schwartz's own research as well as the work of the above-mentioned psychologists and are designed to help the reader find greater happiness amidst the sea of modern-day choice. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a highly readable account of this fascinating topic.

Choices: how to think about it and avoid the pitfalls of too many options *****
Schwartz has a compelling argument: the more options we have for each choice, the higher our expectation and the longer the decision process. For a number of people (especially those that like to 'maximize' every decision) this can be a very frustrating and potentially debilitating. He reports on studies that show how people are actually better off (more satisfied with outcomes) when given fewer choices. Clearly, this concept has been understood for a while, especially in marketing circles where the goal has been to 'take advantage' of customer behavior. However, Schwartz takes the perspective of the individual or consumer and shows how we can be manipulated and perhaps 'left hanging' when the array of choice is bewildering. This book has a very practical approach to the issue, ending with suggestions on how to address the challenges presented with having too much choice. I bought a copy for myself, then ended up buying two more copies because I kept loaning it out to others who reported that a third party ended up taking it, instead of giving it back.

Choices: how to think about it and avoid the pitfalls of too many options *****

Schwartz has a compelling argument: the more options we have for each choice, the higher our expectation and the longer the decision process. For a number of people (especially those that like to 'maximize' every decision) this can be a very frustrating and potentially debilitating. He reports on studies that show how people are actually better off (more satisfied with outcomes) when given fewer choices. Clearly, this concept has been understood for a while, especially in marketing circles where the goal has been to 'take advantage' of customer behavior. However, Schwartz takes the perspective of the individual or consumer and shows how we can be manipulated and perhaps 'left hanging' when the array of choice is bewildering. This book has a very practical approach to the issue, ending with suggestions on how to address the challenges presented with having too much choice.
I bought a copy for myself, then ended up buying two more copies because I kept loaning it out to others who reported that a third party ended up taking it, instead of giving it back.

Not a paradox anymore, now things are clear! *****
Very good book. Highly recommended. Especially for those out there who have a tough time making decisions.

Not a paradox anymore, now things are clear! *****

Very good book. Highly recommended. Especially for those out there who have a tough time making decisions.

Disappointing **
The first third of this book consists of a boatload of statistics and observations about how many choices we have in modern life. A series of self-evident facts, signifying nothing. The next third of the book suggests that choice is sometimes counterproductive and stressful. I have often observed myself that there are eight varieties of Cap'n Crunch in the store and the original is the only good one. Choice is not always good. Kinda knew that. The Third Act, which is what I had hoped would be insightful, reads like a Wayne Dyer greeting card - chill out, breathe, choose what's important, connect with your source, hang in there baby! In response to the stresses of life, one can only chill out so much before starting to ask harder questions about the nature of capitalism and whether our materialist culture is a disgrace to human history. These are the real issues that books like this are supposed to sort out for us through wise, critical, historical analysis. There is something wrong with America - not me. I just work here. Sure I can take a bath and eat whole wheat bread and drink more water, but as a citizen of the world, I wanna know why it's all screwed up and what I can do about it.

Disappointing **

The first third of this book consists of a boatload of statistics and observations about how many choices we have in modern life. A series of self-evident facts, signifying nothing.
The next third of the book suggests that choice is sometimes counterproductive and stressful. I have often observed myself that there are eight varieties of Cap'n Crunch in the store and the original is the only good one. Choice is not always good. Kinda knew that.
The Third Act, which is what I had hoped would be insightful, reads like a Wayne Dyer greeting card - chill out, breathe, choose what's important, connect with your source, hang in there baby!
In response to the stresses of life, one can only chill out so much before starting to ask harder questions about the nature of capitalism and whether our materialist culture is a disgrace to human history. These are the real issues that books like this are supposed to sort out for us through wise, critical, historical analysis. There is something wrong with *America* - not *me*. I just work here. Sure I can take a bath and eat whole wheat bread and drink more water, but as a citizen of the world, I wanna know why it's all screwed up and what I can do about it.

Great book *****
Barry Schwartz explores interesting paradox. If we as consumer have a lot of choices, it does not mean that we would be able to make a better decision or be happier. In fact it is often quite opposite. The book is based on strong scientific foundation: psychology of judgment and decision-making behavioral economics. He includes references to Nobel award winning work by Kahneman and Tversky, as well as few other researchers. At the same time The Paradox or Choice is not a dry academic-like book: is it full of amusing real-life examples. What influence our choice? What factors would lead us to make irrational choice? How to measure happiness and satisfaction? How to make trade-off? You will find answers on these and other questions. Essentially Barry Schwartz uncovers from different points view what we already intuitively know: in order to be happy we don't need to buy more things or more expensive things. We just need to make choices, which will increase our satisfaction. What I took away after reading this book are a few simple ideas, that I can use in my every day life. For example, I will try to base my choices on detailed research rather than the memory of one vivid event. This is not as easy as it sounds as we do not always follow our own rules of decision-making. Barry Schwartz's book helps us to reinforce our intent to make more rational choices. I highly recommend this book. Lev Virine, author of Project Decisions: The Art and Science

Great book *****

Barry Schwartz explores interesting paradox. If we as consumer have a lot of choices, it does not mean that we would be able to make a better decision or be happier. In fact it is often quite opposite. The book is based on strong scientific foundation: psychology of judgment and decision-making behavioral economics. He includes references to Nobel award winning work by Kahneman and Tversky, as well as few other researchers. At the same time The Paradox or Choice is not a dry academic-like book: is it full of amusing real-life examples. What influence our choice? What factors would lead us to make irrational choice? How to measure happiness and satisfaction? How to make trade-off? You will find answers on these and other questions.

Essentially Barry Schwartz uncovers from different points view what we already intuitively know: in order to be happy we don't need to buy more things or more expensive things. We just need to make choices, which will increase our satisfaction. What I took away after reading this book are a few simple ideas, that I can use in my every day life. For example, I will try to base my choices on detailed research rather than the memory of one vivid event. This is not as easy as it sounds as we do not always follow our own rules of decision-making. Barry Schwartz's book helps us to reinforce our intent to make more rational choices.

I highly recommend this book.

Lev Virine, author of Project Decisions: The Art and Science

Self-help or business guide? ****
Full of revelations and useful on any number of fronts; this seems to have been written as a self-help book with a long psychological build up and a fairly relaxed tail suggesting ways to implement the ideas, and as such the explanation of the problem is far more satisfying than the solutions. It is being touted by some as the bible of a new movement in retailing and to the cold eye of the business person there are some elements which are very interesting, in terms of the provision of consumer choice, and with regards to framing market research, but if you fall into this category of reader, beware the underlying message, which is rather against the corporate ladder culture and towards the counting of blessings. It may help your marketeers understand the choices of consumers but it's not going to motivate your salesforce.

Self-help or business guide? ****

Full of revelations and useful on any number of fronts; this seems to have been written as a self-help book with a long psychological build up and a fairly relaxed tail suggesting ways to implement the ideas, and as such the explanation of the problem is far more satisfying than the solutions.

It is being touted by some as the bible of a new movement in retailing and to the cold eye of the business person there are some elements which are very interesting, in terms of the provision of consumer choice, and with regards to framing market research, but if you fall into this category of reader, beware the underlying message, which is rather against the corporate ladder culture and towards the counting of blessings. It may help your marketeers understand the choices of consumers but it's not going to motivate your salesforce.

a useful book, in spite of its flaws ***
I like an author who can keep a good, coherent argument going through an entire book, and to give Barry Schwartz credit I certainly think he does that here. It didn't hurt that I was ready to agree with him before I even started reading -- my own dislike of consumerism disposed me favourably towards his pro-simplicity argument straight away -- but, anyhow, I think it's fair to say that he makes his case thoroughly and backs it up with wide-ranging and relevant evidence. I have a couple of caveats, some quite important. First, when I say the argument is made thoroughly, that doesn't mean that I think the book necessarily needs to be over 200 pages long. In fact, it really does begin to drag after about halfway through. The examples become overwhelmingly repetitive -- more and more of the same -- and the prose becomes laboured, as though the author knows in his heart he has said all he needs to say. His recommendations at the end of the book, for coping with excessive choice, have a desultory air about them, and I don't think Schwartz really has any suggestions that haven't been made more clearly and insightfully by others. I can't help feeling that he could have made his points in about half the number of pages, maybe less. That would have been a good example to set, for someone so keen to extol the virtues of economy and simplification. But I guess that would have made his publisher's job of shifting the book somewhat less simple -- less than two hundred pages and people feel they're not getting their money's worth, right? In spite of all that I nearly gave this book four stars, but I've knocked off another point for Schwartz's spectacularly ignorant dismissal of Voluntary Simplicity at the end of his introduction. Bizarrely, he uses an American magazine called 'Real Simple' as an example to try to show the limitations of this growing movement. He says that all the magazine does is encourage people to think more about how to achieve their 'wants', rather than trying to think about how to reduce these wants and live more economically. Schwartz is quite right -- that is precisely what that particular magazine exists to do (look at their website and you will see). But he has the wrong end of the stick entirely, because 'Real Simple' has absolutely nothing to do with the Voluntary Simplicity movement. It is a 'home and garden' type magazine that offers time-saving -- and rather expensive -- solutions for busy -- and rather wealthy -- middle-class American housewives. It's like a higher-class version of 'Family Circle'. I can't believe that Schwartz could have been so foolish as to mistake it for a magazine advocating alternative lifestyles. It's about as close to consumerist middle America as you could possibly get. He then wonders aloud whether people could be attracted to a magazine that tried to focus instead on simplifying by reducing such 'wants'. ("Who would buy such a magazine?" is his curt dismissal.) Well, I don't know if there is a magazine like that but I do know there are hundreds of thousands of people in the US, Britain, and other Western countries, who are actively choosing to simplify their lives by reducing consumption, working less, and focussing more on quality of life than money. Call it 'simple living', call it 'downshifting' -- call it what you will, there is a large, well-established and intellectually respectable (read Duane Elgin's book 'Voluntary Simplicity') social movement out there trying to engage with precisely the same problems that Schwartz outlines in this book, and he appears blissfully ignorant of it. I feel a little bit guilty because I've said mostly critical things in this review. Hopefully you'll notice that I've still given it three stars -- I do think quite well of this book, and I'm glad I read it. If nothing else, in spite of its flaws, the book got me thinking a little. And I'm always grateful for that.

a useful book, in spite of its flaws ***

I like an author who can keep a good, coherent argument going through an entire book, and to give Barry Schwartz credit I certainly think he does that here. It didn't hurt that I was ready to agree with him before I even started reading -- my own dislike of consumerism disposed me favourably towards his pro-simplicity argument straight away -- but, anyhow, I think it's fair to say that he makes his case thoroughly and backs it up with wide-ranging and relevant evidence.

I have a couple of caveats, some quite important. First, when I say the argument is made thoroughly, that doesn't mean that I think the book necessarily needs to be over 200 pages long. In fact, it really does begin to drag after about halfway through. The examples become overwhelmingly repetitive -- more and more of the same -- and the prose becomes laboured, as though the author knows in his heart he has said all he needs to say. His recommendations at the end of the book, for coping with excessive choice, have a desultory air about them, and I don't think Schwartz really has any suggestions that haven't been made more clearly and insightfully by others.

I can't help feeling that he could have made his points in about half the number of pages, maybe less. That would have been a good example to set, for someone so keen to extol the virtues of economy and simplification. But I guess that would have made his publisher's job of shifting the book somewhat less simple -- less than two hundred pages and people feel they're not getting their money's worth, right?

In spite of all that I nearly gave this book four stars, but I've knocked off another point for Schwartz's spectacularly ignorant dismissal of Voluntary Simplicity at the end of his introduction. Bizarrely, he uses an American magazine called 'Real Simple' as an example to try to show the limitations of this growing movement. He says that all the magazine does is encourage people to think more about how to achieve their 'wants', rather than trying to think about how to reduce these wants and live more economically. Schwartz is quite right -- that is precisely what that particular magazine exists to do (look at their website and you will see). But he has the wrong end of the stick entirely, because 'Real Simple' has absolutely nothing to do with the Voluntary Simplicity movement. It is a 'home and garden' type magazine that offers time-saving -- and rather expensive -- solutions for busy -- and rather wealthy -- middle-class American housewives. It's like a higher-class version of 'Family Circle'. I can't believe that Schwartz could have been so foolish as to mistake it for a magazine advocating alternative lifestyles. It's about as close to consumerist middle America as you could possibly get.

He then wonders aloud whether people could be attracted to a magazine that tried to focus instead on simplifying by reducing such 'wants'. ("Who would buy such a magazine?" is his curt dismissal.) Well, I don't know if there is a magazine like that but I do know there are hundreds of thousands of people in the US, Britain, and other Western countries, who are actively choosing to simplify their lives by reducing consumption, working less, and focussing more on quality of life than money. Call it 'simple living', call it 'downshifting' -- call it what you will, there is a large, well-established and intellectually respectable (read Duane Elgin's book 'Voluntary Simplicity') social movement out there trying to engage with precisely the same problems that Schwartz outlines in this book, and he appears blissfully ignorant of it.

I feel a little bit guilty because I've said mostly critical things in this review. Hopefully you'll notice that I've still given it three stars -- I do think quite well of this book, and I'm glad I read it. If nothing else, in spite of its flaws, the book got me thinking a little. And I'm always grateful for that.

Superb thinker *****
Barry Schwartz was one of my favourite speakers at a Positive Psychology conference I attended some years ago. His speech was one of the best and I bought the book as soon as it came out. I would recommend it highly to people who feel bombarded by the choices this world offers; the people who feel trapped by indecision, and the people who want to read a thought-provoking and excellent book about the choice aspect of every iota of 21st century living. Buy the book and read it.

Superb thinker *****

Barry Schwartz was one of my favourite speakers at a Positive Psychology conference I attended some years ago. His speech was one of the best and I bought the book as soon as it came out. I would recommend it highly to people who feel bombarded by the choices this world offers; the people who feel trapped by indecision, and the people who want to read a thought-provoking and excellent book about the choice aspect of every iota of 21st century living. Buy the book and read it.

belaboured *
Would have made a great short article, but as a book there just isn't enough content and it's all a bit belaboured.

belaboured *

Would have made a great short article, but as a book there just isn't enough content and it's all a bit belaboured.

Are you sure you need a 60G iPod ? ****
I had a guilty secret. I'd buy a gadget, think it was great for a while, stop using it and then feel guilty about getting the thing in the first place. Being a typical bloke, I rarely talked about this to anyone and thought it was just me being pathetic. Then I read this book and realised, yipee !, I'm just a shallow consumer and virtually everyone else feels the same - to a greater or lesser degree. Schwartz exhaustively mines this tendency and matches a good overall structural discourse with really interesting snippets from psychological research. My only problem with the book is the ending, having devoted around 200 pages to analysis the last chapter about what to do about choice is quite perfunctory (don't compare too much, expect to be disappointed etc.). Plus there's a real howler (for me anyway) right at the end when he states that you just have to accept that the 'best things in life' only go to those who do 'better'. But by 'best things' he means a bigger house or a faster car i.e. small incremental 'improvements' over what you already have. To be fair he does also state that you should be happy with 'adequate' but there was still that nasty allusion to the fact that you should 'know your place'. Better to simply laugh at the idiots out there who wreck their lives in the persuit of gadget happiness. Mind you, have you seen that new iPod ?

Are you sure you need a 60G iPod ? ****

I had a guilty secret. I'd buy a gadget, think it was great for a while, stop using it and then feel guilty about getting the thing in the first place. Being a typical bloke, I rarely talked about this to anyone and thought it was just me being pathetic. Then I read this book and realised, yipee !, I'm just a shallow consumer and virtually everyone else feels the same - to a greater or lesser degree.
Schwartz exhaustively mines this tendency and matches a good overall structural discourse with really interesting snippets from psychological research. My only problem with the book is the ending, having devoted around 200 pages to analysis the last chapter about what to do about choice is quite perfunctory (don't compare too much, expect to be disappointed etc.).
Plus there's a real howler (for me anyway) right at the end when he states that you just have to accept that the 'best things in life' only go to those who do 'better'. But by 'best things' he means a bigger house or a faster car i.e. small incremental 'improvements' over what you already have. To be fair he does also state that you should be happy with 'adequate' but there was still that nasty allusion to the fact that you should 'know your place'. Better to simply laugh at the idiots out there who wreck their lives in the persuit of gadget happiness.
Mind you, have you seen that new iPod ?

When is Too Much Choice Bad? ****
According to Barry Schwartz, the Swathmore sociology professor, the latitude of choice and the freedom to choose has caused all kinds of social problems in modern America. In his estimation, having more options to choose from doesn't result in making better choices. Rather, it is quite the opposite. Chooaing, in maximalist fashion, to send your child to Harvard because of the prestige factor may eventually become a bad decision if it causes you to have to take out a substantial mortgage to accomplish it. Picking this school over a more affordable one may in the end cause people to remember you for all the wrong reasons. Schwartz fills this book with dozens of similar scenarios where the paradox of more means less is starting to become the rule rather than remain the exception. Whatever decisions we make in life will always come with a latent inability to predict and guarantee desired satisfaction, as measured by factors like happiness, simply because there are often too many options to consider in the first place and too many consequences to fear. American cultural values have become compellingly consumer driven that people are quite unable to distingush between answering to basic needs and pandering to frivolous wants. Statistics show that emotional and mental distress has started to grip the nation in the 21st century. The fear factor is taking over as more people realize that they may very well have chased some very unattainable dreams. Happily, Schwartz doesn't leave his reader dangling on that note, but instead offers some very practical skills on how to cope with the strain of having to make effective decisions: learn from the good choices you have made, keep your expectations simple, stop looking to others for guidance all the time, focus on the positive and learn to adapt when choices don't always work out the way you intended them to. This past week has been a good example of how I'm constantly learning to adapt in my life. I had to adjust my thinking on the need vs. want of attending a special family function to be held in a distant city on short notice. I decided to go only after weighing up the emotional benefits and personal satisfaction vis a vis the physical inconveniences of air travel and short turnaround. Twenty-four hours after the fact and the satisfaction factor is still there, and I suspect so for the rest of my life. I recommend this book to be read by anyone who needs to experience more peace in their lives when making decisions that affect themselves and others.

When is Too Much Choice Bad? ****

According to Barry Schwartz, the Swathmore sociology professor, the latitude of choice and the freedom to choose has caused all kinds of social problems in modern America. In his estimation, having more options to choose from doesn't result in making better choices. Rather, it is quite the opposite. Chooaing, in maximalist fashion, to send your child to Harvard because of the prestige factor may eventually become a bad decision if it causes you to have to take out a substantial mortgage to accomplish it. Picking this school over a more affordable one may in the end cause people to remember you for all the wrong reasons. Schwartz fills this book with dozens of similar scenarios where the paradox of more means less is starting to become the rule rather than remain the exception. Whatever decisions we make in life will always come with a latent inability to predict and guarantee desired satisfaction, as measured by factors like happiness, simply because there are often too many options to consider in the first place and too many consequences to fear. American cultural values have become compellingly consumer driven that people are quite unable to distingush between answering to basic needs and pandering to frivolous wants. Statistics show that emotional and mental distress has started to grip the nation in the 21st century. The fear factor is taking over as more people realize that they may very well have chased some very unattainable dreams. Happily, Schwartz doesn't leave his reader dangling on that note, but instead offers some very practical skills on how to cope with the strain of having to make effective decisions: learn from the good choices you have made, keep your expectations simple, stop looking to others for guidance all the time, focus on the positive and learn to adapt when choices don't always work out the way you intended them to. This past week has been a good example of how I'm constantly learning to adapt in my life. I had to adjust my thinking on the need vs. want of attending a special family function to be held in a distant city on short notice. I decided to go only after weighing up the emotional benefits and personal satisfaction vis a vis the physical inconveniences of air travel and short turnaround. Twenty-four hours after the fact and the satisfaction factor is still there, and I suspect so for the rest of my life. I recommend this book to be read by anyone who needs to experience more peace in their lives when making decisions that affect themselves and others.

Choose This Book! *****
The counterintuitive title of this book makes sense by page two, which is only the first of many wonders Schwartz makes happen over the course of this deceptively thin and breezy tome. Paradox explains why we feel like we have less time even as technology continues to promise to make life easier. In a nutshell, it's because we have too many choices and invest great amounts of time and mental capital in making decisions that were far simpler or simply didn't exist in the past. Schwartz start with examples like buying jeans--slim fit? baggy fit? classic fit? relaxed fit? tapered leg? button fly? zip fly?--or choosing phone service--AT&T? MCI? countless baby Bells? myriad cellular providers?--but quickly demonstrates that our choices in every area of life, including where to live, who (or whether) to marry, what to do for a living, and much more have expanded to a degree that we not only spend more time contemplating our choices, but experience far more regret afterward--or sometimes, he argues, choose not to choose at all because thinking about all the choices we must forego in order to choose just one paralyzes us--or makes the option we like the best seem less appealing. Schwartz also notes that the increased array of choices combines with the human imagination in dangerous ways that make us sadder. Life gives us choices with fixed qualities--a good job with potential in a city far from home or a decent job with little potential that's close to home--but we compose our own options by assembling aspects of the real choices into fictional options that we then compare with reality. What a surprise that, as we learn of more and more choices, reality falls further and further short! I can't have it all: live close enough to family and retain the freedom to use distance as an excuse to avoid obligations, live in Minneapolis and also in a house with Brad, work with people I loved working with and also return to Illinois. Yet in times of distress, I (and all of us, Schwartz says) tend to compare the situation that troubles me not with a real alternative but with a fantasy constructed from several conflicting components. This is not a useful way to deal with whatever it is that troubles me, or any of us. Fortunately, Schwartz closes the book by offering useful suggestions for understanding the problems unlimited choices pose in our society and dealing with them in our own lives. His book isn't perfect--it gets a bit redundant at times--but it's a fascinating take on a topic that plays a bigger role in modern life than many of us realize.

Choose This Book! *****

The counterintuitive title of this book makes sense by page two, which is only the first of many wonders Schwartz makes happen over the course of this deceptively thin and breezy tome. Paradox explains why we feel like we have less time even as technology continues to promise to make life easier. In a nutshell, it's because we have too many choices and invest great amounts of time and mental capital in making decisions that were far simpler or simply didn't exist in the past. Schwartz start with examples like buying jeans--slim fit? baggy fit? classic fit? relaxed fit? tapered leg? button fly? zip fly?--or choosing phone service--AT&T? MCI? countless baby Bells? myriad cellular providers?--but quickly demonstrates that our choices in every area of life, including where to live, who (or whether) to marry, what to do for a living, and much more have expanded to a degree that we not only spend more time contemplating our choices, but experience far more regret afterward--or sometimes, he argues, choose not to choose at all because thinking about all the choices we must forego in order to choose just one paralyzes us--or makes the option we like the best seem less appealing.

Schwartz also notes that the increased array of choices combines with the human imagination in dangerous ways that make us sadder. Life gives us choices with fixed qualities--a good job with potential in a city far from home or a decent job with little potential that's close to home--but we compose our own options by assembling aspects of the real choices into fictional options that we then compare with reality. What a surprise that, as we learn of more and more choices, reality falls further and further short! I can't have it all: live close enough to family and retain the freedom to use distance as an excuse to avoid obligations, live in Minneapolis and also in a house with Brad, work with people I loved working with and also return to Illinois. Yet in times of distress, I (and all of us, Schwartz says) tend to compare the situation that troubles me not with a real alternative but with a fantasy constructed from several conflicting components. This is not a useful way to deal with whatever it is that troubles me, or any of us.

Fortunately, Schwartz closes the book by offering useful suggestions for understanding the problems unlimited choices pose in our society and dealing with them in our own lives. His book isn't perfect--it gets a bit redundant at times--but it's a fascinating take on a topic that plays a bigger role in modern life than many of us realize.

Feel better about your decisions... *****
Schwartz takes an interesting perspective on the decision sciences, exploring not how we could make decisions better, but instead how we can feel better about the decisions we do make. He explains that we live in a world with overwhelming choice, where every activity from buying a box of cereal to choosing our ideal job offers us an almost unlimited set of options. But although these increased choices often make us better off objectively, they don't necessarily make us feel any better. Instead, we get anxious while making the decision and then feel regret once it's made, wondering if we made the "right" choice. Schwartz helps us understand the psychological underpinnings of our anxieties regarding choice, and then offers some simple but useful suggestions on how we can feel better in the world we live in. I really enjoyed this book...and as a "maximizer" I found it very helpful. It's a quick read, so if you're at all intrigued by the title then I'd definitely buy it.

Feel better about your decisions... *****

Schwartz takes an interesting perspective on the decision sciences, exploring not how we could make decisions better, but instead how we can feel better about the decisions we do make.

He explains that we live in a world with overwhelming choice, where every activity from buying a box of cereal to choosing our ideal job offers us an almost unlimited set of options. But although these increased choices often make us better off objectively, they don't necessarily make us feel any better. Instead, we get anxious while making the decision and then feel regret once it's made, wondering if we made the "right" choice. Schwartz helps us understand the psychological underpinnings of our anxieties regarding choice, and then offers some simple but useful suggestions on how we can feel better in the world we live in.

I really enjoyed this book...and as a "maximizer" I found it very helpful. It's a quick read, so if you're at all intrigued by the title then I'd definitely buy it.

Interesting and helpful ****
I am deeply thankful to live at a time, in a country, where I enjoy unprecedented freedoms; I would never want someone else to restrict my choices. And I'm not sure that the author and I agree on this point. However, "The Paradox of Choice" has certainly helped convince me that I could benefit from somewhat limiting my own options in certain areas, as I see fit. What I liked best about this book is the fact that its last chapter is devoted to giving readers practical, customizeable ways to control the ways in which choice can sometimes be paralyzing. Worth skimming, at least.

Interesting and helpful ****

I am deeply thankful to live at a time, in a country, where I enjoy unprecedented freedoms; I would never want someone else to restrict my choices. And I'm not sure that the author and I agree on this point.

However, "The Paradox of Choice" has certainly helped convince me that I could benefit from somewhat limiting my own options in certain areas, as I see fit. What I liked best about this book is the fact that its last chapter is devoted to giving readers practical, customizeable ways to control the ways in which choice can sometimes be paralyzing.

Worth skimming, at least.